CORVALLIS, Ore. — As the wins keep coming, Oregon State’s postseason possibilities continue to multiply.
The Beavers, who didn’t win any conference games a season ago, completed a sweep over Stanford with a 66-54 home win over the Cardinal on Thursday. The victory moved the Beavers to within a game of .500 at 12-13 overall and lifted their Pacific-10 Conference mark to 6-8.
The Beavers have four games left, and three are against teams they beat earlier this season.
Oregon State sophomore guard Calvin Haynes and his teammates acknowledge that their goal is to extend the season beyond next month’s conference tournament — a goal that seemed crazy at the start of the season.
“Anything is possible for us if we keep playing our style of basketball and keep getting after people on the defensive end,” said Haynes, who had 17 points as the Beavers notched their first sweep since beating Washington State twice in the 2003-04 season.
Oregon State last swept Stanford in 1992-93.
Though the Beavers would have to win the Pac-10 tournament to get to the NCAA tournament, a sub-.500 overall record could get them into one of the lesser tournaments for the first time since the 2004-05 season.
“We would be honored if anybody thought we were good enough to play in their tournament,” said Craig Robinson, Oregon State’s first-year coach.
Roeland Schaftenaar had a career-high 26 points for the Beavers, who built a big first-half advantage and led by as many as 21 points in the second half before Stanford (15-9, 4-9) crawled back into the game behind the play of Jeremy Green.
Green scored all of his team-high 19 points in the second half. He hit 5 3-pointers, including three straight that closed the deficit to 59-54 with 1:53 remaining.
But Stanford didn’t score again, and Oregon State put the game away at the free-throw line.
“Jeremy’s very capable,” Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins said. “He can shoot the basketball, and he got it going.”
Oregon State jumped out to a 19-point lead 11 minutes into the game.
Schaftenaar scored eight straight and Haynes followed with seven more in a 21-2 run that put the Beavers ahead 25-6. Stanford scored the last five points of the half to cut Oregon State’s lead to 29-17.
“The key for us was that we were getting stops,” Schaftenaar said. “That we were able to stop them in the first half got us our lead. Defense was the most important thing for us.”
Oregon State shot 54 percent for the game and held Stanford to 42 percent. The Beavers also amassed a 32-20 rebounding edge.
“They do a good job. They move well,” Dawkins said. “They’re disruptive, and now they are playing with a lot of confidence.”
Schaftenaar, the conference player of the week when Oregon State beat Stanford and California on the road last month, displayed his versatility Thursday night with 3-pointers, drives to the basket and low-post moves.
“It is pleasant, more than pleasant, to watch him have some success and to have the confidence that good ballplayers have,” Robinson said. “He deserves every bit of it.”
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