Jan. 28, 2005
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) - Chris Hernandez scored 23 points and made six freethrows in the final 21 seconds, lifting Stanford to a 69-65 victory over OregonState on Thursday night.
Hernandez's free throws with 21 seconds left broke a tie and gave theCardinal (11-7, 5-3 Pac-10) their fifth straight win.
Dan Grunfeld added 15 points as Stanford beat Oregon State (11-8, 3-5) forthe 11th straight time. Matt Haryasz had 13 points and 11 rebounds, and RobLittle scored all 10 of his points in the first half.
Nick DeWitz scored 19 points to lead the Beavers, who lost their seventhstraight Pac-10 game on the road and 15th in 16. They lost their fifth in sixoverall following their season-high six-game winning streak. Oregon State haslost 12 straight in Maples.
Stanford was down to eight scholarship players and a walk-on when freshmancenter Peter Prowitt was unable to go following an ankle injury suffered duringpractice on Monday.
The Cardinal roster dwindled from 14 due to injury, ineligibility and twoothers leaving to concentrate on football.
"As long as we don't go below five or six, it's all right," Stanford coachTrent Johnson said before the game.
Haryasz hit a short jumper with 13:50 remaining, giving Stanford its largestlead at 48-30. But Oregon State went to work, creating several turnovers tospark a 26-7 run over the next nine minutes.
Jason Fontenet stole a pass which led to a pair of free throws that tied thegame 54-54, then J.S. Nash created another turnover that led to a pair of foulshots that gave the Beavers their first lead at 56-55 with 4:33 left.
The game remained close the rest of the way, with three lead changes downthe stretch.
Stanford led by as many as 14 before Oregon State rallied to close within38-28 by halftime.