CORVALLIS — The final game of the Oregon State men’s basketball season was over before it could really get going Wednesday night.

The Beavers fell behind in the opening minutes and could never catch up, losing 96-92 to Radford in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational at Gill Coliseum in front of a generously announced crowd of 1,351.

Despite getting 26 points from Roberto Nelson and 23 each from Eric Moreland and Hallice Cooke — career-highs for both — Oregon State (16-16) trailed throughout.

“I told them in the locker room I wasn’t prepared to make the end of the year speech today,” Oregon State coach Craig Robinson said. “It’s a bitter taste in our mouths, ending on this note. I don’t want to take anything away from Radford. They came ready to play and we weren’t. By the time we got ready to play, the game was out of our hands and we had to fight back just a little too much.”

Still, the Beavers came close. They cut a 15-point deficit to 95-92 with 7.8 seconds left and had the ball under the Radford basket.

After taking the inbounds pass, Nelson dribbled just past half court, thought he was fouled and let fly a long three-point attempt.

But no foul was called and Radford recovered the rebound with 2 seconds left.

“The whole (Radford) team was yelling ‘foul’ and as they come over and hit me, I threw it up there,” Nelson said. “It’s all right. The refs, if they see it they see it. If they don’t, that’s the price you gotta pay.”

Nelson’s career ended with one last solid performance. The senior guard made 9-of-14 shots from the field and had four assists and no turnovers.

Another senior, center Angus Brandt, had 14 points and five rebounds, and the Beavers’ third senior, forward Devon Collier, missed the game with a left ankle sprain, an injury he suffered in the Pac-12 tournament first-round loss to Oregon a week ago.

“I don’t think anyone comes into college thinking their career will end like this, but the reality is that most players’ careers end on a loss,” Brandt said. “It’s a sour pill, but it’s one that we have to swallow.”

Ya Ya Anderson scored 23 points and had seven three-pointers for the Highlanders (22-12), who advanced to play Old Dominion in the second round.

With Anderson leading the way, Radford went right to work on Oregon State after winning the opening tip.

The Highlanders went up by 10 points within 4 minutes following back-to-back three-pointers by R.J. Price and Anderson that made it 14-4.

Radford stayed hot through the opening 10 minutes, making 16 of their first 19 shots — including 10 straight at one point — and 6 of 8 three-pointers to go up 38-24 with 9:40 to play in the half.

The closest the Beavers got to the lead was 27-20 at the 11:49 mark after scoring on five straight possessions, otherwise, they trailed by double digits for most of the half and went into the break down 57-45.

“We played like they caught us off guard,” Robinson said. “There’s no excuse for coming out and being that flat.”

Oregon State pulled within three points three times in the final 8:12 before a layup by Nelson with 25 seconds left made it a two-point game, 94-92.

The Beavers just couldn’t complete the comeback.