CORVALLIS, Ore. - The 2011-12 Western Illinois men's basketball season came to an end Wednesday night (March 14), as the Leathernecks fell to the Oregon State Beavers on the road, 80-59, in the opening round of the 2012 College Basketball Invitational. With the victory the Beavers will advance to the quarterfinal round and host TCU next Monday (March 19).

The Leathernecks conclude their historic season with a 18-15 overall mark, and earned their first-ever trip to the postseason as a Division I program. The 18 wins is the most since the 1996-97 season when Western earned 19, and the team's nine Summit League victories is the most since the 1998-99 team finished with nine.

Junior forward Don McAvoy III finished with a career-high 19 points in the defeat, going 7-of-15 from the field, 3-of-5 from downtown, and swiping three steals. The only other Leatherneck to finish in double figures was senior guard Ceola Clark III who tallied 11 points, while dishing out five assists.

The Beavers shot 65.2% in the game, while Western finished with 41.4 shooting percentage. The Leathernecks were also outrebounded 37-15.

OSU was led by Jared Cunningham who tallied a game-high 22 points, eight rebounds, and five assists.

The Beavers came out firing early, starting the game on a 16-2 run through the first four minutes of the action. Western's lone basket during that span was an alley-oop from Clark to junior forward Terell Parks

A jumper from freshman forward Obi Emegano would get things going in the right direction for Western, as they slowly pulled to within 10 before heading into the locker room at the break, thanks mostly in part to a 16-10 run through the final 4:53 of the half.

McAvoy finished the first with a team-high 12 points, 11 of which came in the half's final five minutes.

OSU shot 62.5% (15-of-24) from the field in the first, while Western finished the half with a 54.2% (13-of-24).

The Leathernecks were able to get within nine early in the second, but that would be as close as they would get as the Beavers would pull away to a lead as large as 25, and advance to the second-round of the CBI with an 80-59 win.