Cal Stays in NCAA Chase by Defeating Oregon State

California’s hopes for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament are still alive.

The Golden Bears got 26 points and six assists from Geno Carlisle and pulled away from Oregon State in the final nine minutes Thursday night to take a 68-61 victory over the Beavers at Corvallis, Ore.

Cal (17-10, 8-9 in the Pacific 10 Conference) finishes the regular season Saturday at Oregon.

Oregon State (12-14, 6-11) led, 45-43, with just under 10 minutes to play when Carlisle scored six points in a row to give the Golden Bears a 49-45 lead.

With 3:59 to go, Carlisle made a three-point shot that extended Cal’s lead to 54-47.

The Beavers got back within 54-50 when Josh Steinthal made a three-point basket with 3:26 remaining.

But Michael Gill and Thomas Kilgore scored on the next two California possessions to make the score 58-50 and the Beavers never got closer than six points the rest of the way.

No. 6 Stanford 73, Oregon 61--Arthur Lee scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half as the Cardinal continued its push for a top seed in the NCAA tournament by defeating Oregon (15-11, 7-10) at Eugene, Ore.

Stanford (25-5, 15-2) won its fifth game in a row and matched the school record with 15 conference victories, set in 1989 and tied last year when the Cardinal went to the Final Four.