Oregon State Starts Justin Joyner Era With Triple Digits In Season Opening Win
Corvallis, OR – With last season’s leading scorer, Josiah Lake II, as the lone returner for Oregon State, a new era began under coach Justin Joyner in Corvallis in the season opener with Weber State. After Weber State kept the game within striking distance in the first half, the physicality and experience of Oregon State led to a 102-61 final score. Buffalo transfer Daniel Freitag and Fresno State transfer DeShawn Gory, led the way with 23 and 17 points respectively, with five other Oregon State players finishing in double figures. The Beavers won the second half 59-26, getting to the foul line 24 times in the process.
Weber State is the second youngest team in the NCAA, beginning their own new era under experienced NBA assistant coach and 2025-26 Associate Head Coach of Troy, Kaleb Canales. Featuring mostly newcomers, they showed plenty of grit in the first half, going into halftime down by 43-35. Both teams were led by strong guard play, and showed potential All-Conference level prospects for this coming year and years to come.
For Oregon State, Freitag used the shot fake to his advantage on numerous occasions, made all 12 of his FT attempts, while being a threat from multiple levels with his strength and shooting touch. A junior on his third stop after starting his college career at Wisconsin and then averaging 19.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg, and 3.8 apg, at Buffalo. He showed craft, patience, and confidence that should lead to continued success in the new Pac-12. Freitag also had seven rebounds and three steals, playing much bigger than his listed 6’2.
Gory, the 6’6 sophomore wing who averaged 13.7 ppg and 6.2 rpg last season at Fresno State, went on a self 7-0 run in the second half, which was capped off by a blocked jump shot leading to a transition dunk. He is a threat as a spot-up shooter, and showed that he could use his length and manipulation to get to spots and get the defense off balance.
It may not have been a scoring outburst for fourth year Oregon State player Josiah Lake II, but he still finished with 10 points, along with a team best five assists along with the highest +/- of +32. Now joined by his brother, freshman Jemai Lake, both showed the ability to lead the offense while both having noticeably gained a lot of strength that helped them defensively as well. Jemai Lake came in early off the bench, quickly making his first three pointer and capped the game off with his last, finishing with 10 points on 3-of-5 FG in just 16 minutes of action.
Oregon State will be led by their guards and Gory on the wing, though they also showed depth, and their massive size and length contributed to difficulty scoring around the basket and their 54-40 rebounding advantage. Sophomore BYU transfer Xavion Staton had a number of offensive rebound putbacks, finishing with 10 points, 13 rebounds, and two blocks. Chris Johnson, most recently of Central Florida and San Francisco sophomore transfer Legend Smiley, showed their ability to come in and stretch the floor, use their size and athleticism, finishing with 13 and 11 points respectively.
It was a really rough shooting night for Weber State, which ended up shooting only 6-of-35 on 3’s, but they kept low turnover numbers, had 16 offensive rebounds, and had guards that managed to get into the teeth of the defense. One guard that should make plenty of noise in the Big Sky is 5’11 freshman Gavin Lowe, who had 15 points and four steals in 25 minutes. He showed incredible elevation on his jumper, an ability to keep possessions alive, run an offense, and even fought for tough rebounds. His hands are great on both sides of the ball and was able to keep bigger defenders on his hip, while he finished 6-of-9 on field goals inside the arc.
Weber State returnee, sophomore ArDarius Grayson, also was quite the spark plug with some impressive floaters, along with his ability to bend the defense along with his team high seven rebounds to go with 12 points. Sophomore Rice transfer Aaron Powell showed his quick release and ability to shoot off movement, while Sophomore New Mexico State transfer Augustine Ekwe was able to get low post position on offense, and use his strength to make life difficult around the basket for the Oregon State bigs. The first half should be much more indicative of this Weber State team as the season moves on.
Oregon State’s next game will be against Cal Baptist on November 6 at home, while Weber State will be playing at the Dee Events Center in Ogden, UT for their home opener against Utah Valley.
This article was written by Michael Visenberg of NetScouts Basketball. You can follow us on Instagram, or on twitter.
We are looking for those interested in our basketball scout apprenticeship program. For information contact us and forward your resume.Corvallis, OR – With last season’s leading scorer, Josiah Lake II, as the lone returner for Oregon State, a new era began under coach Justin Joyner in Corvallis in the season opener with Weber State. After Weber State kept the game within striking distance in the first half, the physicality and experience of Oregon State led to a 102-61 final score. Buffalo transfer Daniel Freitag and Fresno State transfer DeShawn Gory, led the way with 23 and 17 points respectively, with five other Oregon State players finishing in double figures. The Beavers won the second half 59-26, getting to the foul line 24 times in the process.
Weber State is the second youngest team in the NCAA, beginning their own new era under experienced NBA assistant coach and 2025-26 Associate Head Coach of Troy, Kaleb Canales. Featuring mostly newcomers, they showed plenty of grit in the first half, going into halftime down by 43-35. Both teams were led by strong guard play, and showed potential All-Conference level prospects for this coming year and years to come.
For Oregon State, Freitag used the shot fake to his advantage on numerous occasions, made all 12 of his FT attempts, while being a threat from multiple levels with his strength and shooting touch. A junior on his third stop after starting his college career at Wisconsin and then averaging 19.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg, and 3.8 apg, at Buffalo. He showed craft, patience, and confidence that should lead to continued success in the new Pac-12. Freitag also had seven rebounds and three steals, playing much bigger than his listed 6’2.
Gory, the 6’6 sophomore wing who averaged 13.7 ppg and 6.2 rpg last season at Fresno State, went on a self 7-0 run in the second half, which was capped off by a blocked jump shot leading to a transition dunk. He is a threat as a spot-up shooter, and showed that he could use his length and manipulation to get to spots and get the defense off balance.
It may not have been a scoring outburst for fourth year Oregon State player Josiah Lake II, but he still finished with 10 points, along with a team best five assists along with the highest +/- of +32. Now joined by his brother, freshman Jemai Lake, both showed the ability to lead the offense while both having noticeably gained a lot of strength that helped them defensively as well. Jemai Lake came in early off the bench, quickly making his first three pointer and capped the game off with his last, finishing with 10 points on 3-of-5 FG in just 16 minutes of action.
Oregon State will be led by their guards and Gory on the wing, though they also showed depth, and their massive size and length contributed to difficulty scoring around the basket and their 54-40 rebounding advantage. Sophomore BYU transfer Xavion Staton had a number of offensive rebound putbacks, finishing with 10 points, 13 rebounds, and two blocks. Chris Johnson, most recently of Central Florida and San Francisco sophomore transfer Legend Smiley, showed their ability to come in and stretch the floor, use their size and athleticism, finishing with 13 and 11 points respectively.
It was a really rough shooting night for Weber State, which ended up shooting only 6-of-35 on 3’s, but they kept low turnover numbers, had 16 offensive rebounds, and had guards that managed to get into the teeth of the defense. One guard that should make plenty of noise in the Big Sky is 5’11 freshman Gavin Lowe, who had 15 points and four steals in 25 minutes. He showed incredible elevation on his jumper, an ability to keep possessions alive, run an offense, and even fought for tough rebounds. His hands are great on both sides of the ball and was able to keep bigger defenders on his hip, while he finished 6-of-9 on field goals inside the arc.
Weber State returnee, sophomore ArDarius Grayson, also was quite the spark plug with some impressive floaters, along with his ability to bend the defense along with his team high seven rebounds to go with 12 points. Sophomore Rice transfer Aaron Powell showed his quick release and ability to shoot off movement, while Sophomore New Mexico State transfer Augustine Ekwe was able to get low post position on offense, and use his strength to make life difficult around the basket for the Oregon State bigs. The first half should be much more indicative of this Weber State team as the season moves on.
Oregon State’s next game will be against Cal Baptist on November 6 at home, while Weber State will be playing at the Dee Events Center in Ogden, UT for their home opener against Utah Valley.
This article was written by Michael Visenberg of NetScouts Basketball. You can follow us on Instagram, or on twitter.
We are looking for those interested in our basketball scout apprenticeship program. For information contact us and forward your resume.
