The Oaks are sure to savor the gritty win over Bethany, who defeated Menlo 101-100 in double overtime last month at the end of a brutal five-game stretch of gut-wrenching losses for Menlo. Saturday's encounter wasn't quite as close, but Menlo was never able to put Bethany away even though it teased at such an end.

A 12-point Menlo lead with less than nine minutes to play quickly turned into just a 59-57 Oaks advantage after Bethany went on an 11-1 run. With more than four minutes still on the clock, junior forward Nick McCullar drove down the lane for a basket and a foul. McCullar sank the free shot for a five-point lead with four minutes, five seconds left.

McCullar made another huge play after the Bruins pulled within a point with less than two minutes remaining. On a must-score possession, McCullar bulled his way to the basket for another score while he was fouled. His ensuing free throw was off, but the Oaks had the comfort of knowing it wouldn't lose the lead on Bethany's next possession.

Bethany twice pulled within two points in the final minute, but Dejon Grant and Drew Davis each knocked down a pair of free throws to reestablish four-point Menlo leads. Following Davis' clutch shots with 19 seconds left, Bethany missed a pair of wild shots before Ron Houston scored a meaningless layup as the final buzzer sounded.

Menlo was guilty of a sluggish start, trailing three times in the opening five minutes - for a total of less than three minutes - before Grant drove for a score that erased the Oaks final deficit and tied the score at 7-all. It was 14-13 Menlo when it surged for the first time.

Freshman Patrick Greene ran the baseline for a layup from a pass dropped off by Grant near the midway point of the first half. McCullar scored one possession later on a putback and Tim Kees added a pair of driving scores for a 22-13 Menlo lead with less than eight minutes left in the opening period.

Bethany trimmed the lead to one point late in the half before McCullar, Grant and Ryan Dung scored for a seven-point cushion in the final seconds. Jason Maples sunk a 3-pointer for the Bruins just before the break and Menlo was up 36-32.

Early in the second half Bethany pulled within one point on three occasions, but Menlo always answered. Tyler Rajnus scored inside and Dung canned a 3-pointer - each from a Julian Harris assist - before the distributor sank a free throw after being intentionally fouled on a fast break for a 47-40 lead.

The Oaks led by five points when they used a short spurt to take their biggest lead of the game heading into the final minutes.

Grant scored a transition layup before Andrew Young came up with a steal on the other end. Harris pushed the ball up court then kicked it out to Dung for a crowd-pleasing 3-pointer which forced Bethany to call a timeout down 10 points. Grant scored again for a 58-46 advantage with a shade under nine minutes to play.

Menlo didn't score another point until four minutes later as Bethany ran off nine consecutive points to get right back in the game with more than five minutes still to play.

McCullar had a team-high 16 points with five rebounds for Menlo. Kees and Dung each tallied a dozen points while Grant had 10. Harris netted eight and Greene grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.

Ron Houston led all scorers with 24 points, sinking all 11 of his free throw attempts. James Jansen was a load inside, scoring 14 points with seven rebounds while Jason Maples added nine points.

Menlo is now 4-5 in the Cal Pac and 8-14 overall. The Oaks have a conference bye on Thursday and play at Pacific Union (2-6, 3-14) at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday. Bethany is 1-8 in conference and 2-20 overall.