Box Score CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Sophomore
Sterling Smith scored a career-high 21 points, including a big three-point basket with under a minute to play, lifting Coppin State to a 78-73 victory over Oregon State as the Eagles recorded their first-ever win against a Pac-12 opponent.
After Oregon State had trimmed an eight-point Coppin State lead to just two with 1:10 to play in the game, Smith drilled a three-pointer giving the Eagles a 73-68 lead with 42 seconds remaining.
A layup by Victor Robbins cut the lead to 73-70 with 27 seconds left, but
Daquan Brickhouse made four consecutive free throws to increase the lead to 77-70 with 9 seconds left in the contest.
Robbins made a three-pointer with 4 seconds left, but Brickhouse sealed the victory by making one of two free throws with 1 second to play.
Coppin State entered the game having lost all 16 previous meetings with members of the Pac-12 Conference, including a season-opening loss to California on Friday, before registering its breakthrough victory on Sunday.
Smith was 8-of-12 from the floor and made 4-of-7 three-point attempts to top his previous career high of 16 he set against California.
The Eagles (1-1) also got 17 points and nine rebounds from
Arnold Fripp and 10 points, eight assists and six rebounds from
Taariq Cephas.
Roberto Nelson finished with a career-high 36 points to lead Oregon State.
Coppin State took the lead for good late in the first half when Andre Armstrong nailed a three-pointer giving the Eagles a 16-13 lead with 7:49 left in the first period.
The lead was 24-19 when the Eagles put together a 12-4 run, sparked by four points from Smith, to take a 36-23 lead with 1:07 to play in the opening half.
The Eagles held a 36-26 lead at intermission.
Oregon State cut the Coppin State lead down to 62-61 with 5:32 left in the game, but the Eagles answered with an 8-1 run to push the lead to 70-62 with 3:04 left in the contest.
Coppin State outrebounded the Beavers 40-36 and also limited them to just 39.0 percent shooting from the floor.
Coppin State will make its home debut on Nov. 18 when it hosts Wagner at 7:30 p.m. in the Physical Education Complex.
