Ducks Battle to Take Down Beavers in Dramatic Fashion 78-76

A late three-pointer and a missed shot at the buzzer propelled Oregon to a win in the War on the Willamette.

Author:
Graham Metzker
Publish date:
Jan 11, 2022 1:19 AM EST

First Half

It took no time for the offenses to start flowing. Oregon State starting center Roman Silva quickly scored a layup after winning the opening tip. Less than a minute later Jacob Young grabbed a defensive rebound and found N’Faly Dante for a quick slam.

The two teams could barely miss until a media timeout paused the game with a 12-12 score after five minutes. The Ducks and Beavers both had eight players get on the score sheet to go along with a combined total of twelve assists in a first half of generous offenses.

The store was stuck 20-20 after nearly ten minutes. Then the Beavers defense started clamping up to finally break the stalemate. OSU’s strong interior defense held up through the whole shot clock and even stood strong after giving up multiple Oregon offensive rebounds. The Beavers sent the Ducks spiraling on a harsh 1-for-9 field goal shooting streak. The Ducks just couldn’t get a comfortable shot, constantly passing the ball along the perimeter looking for an opening that wasn’t there.

Oregon also played tough defense, keeping OSU from making a three-pointer in the first half. Oregon’s momentum shifted to the offense, connecting on three straight field goals to bring the score to 30-28 with the Beavers still in front. Add in a free throw from Dante and a smooth pull-up jumper from the free-throw line from De’Vion Harmon, and the Ducks grabbed themselves a one-point lead.

The offenses woke up and were again in full-throttle. The lead changed four times in the last two and a half minutes of the half, and then Young took over. The Oregon wing stole the ball and took it coast-to-coast with a strong layup. And to end the half, Young hit a spot-up three with two seconds left in the half, giving Oregon a 40-36 lead at halftime.

Second Half

The Oregon Ducks came out of the locker room with a fiery energy, racing out to a six-point lead after a few tricky shots from Young and Will Richardson, and a one-handed jam from Dante on the fastbreak.

The Beavers' got in a rhythm with starter Dashawn Davis’s mid-range jumper, giving him 10 points on the game and cutting the Ducks lead to two at 51-49. But the Ducks’ defense brought their intensity back to make the game a back-and-forth battle as it was in the first, also using a 8-2 run to take their biggest lead at 59-51. After trailing by nine, OSU broke off a 6-0 run, finished off by a Silva tip-in to cut the deficit to three points and force a Dana Altman timeout.

Not long after, OSU’s Warith Alatishe hit a big hook shot to tie the game at 64 with 4:50 left. After Quincy Guerrier hit two free throws, Alatishe hit another big shot as the shot clock expired to keep the game tied.

Following a sloppy run of play and exchange of clutch buckets, Williams made the difference by hitting a catch-and-shoot three with 13 seconds left to put the Ducks up 77-74. Oregon State had a chance to send the game to overtime after Young missed a free throw, but Alatishe couldn’t finish under the bucket, and the Ducks went on to win 78-76.

Despite missing the game-tying shot, Alatishe finished with a strong 16 points on 8-10 field goal shooting. On the winning side, Dante played huge for the Ducks and grabbed himself a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double, and Young led the Ducks with 16 points.

Oregon (9-6, 2-2 Pac-12) returns to action on Thursday for a massive battle against No. 3 UCLA (10-1, 2-0 Pac-12) at Pauley Pavilion in Westwood at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN. The Ducks have not been victorious at Pauley Pavilion since 2015-16, losing their last three matchups on the Bruins’ home floor.

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