By: Jasmine Saboorian
Today’s Oregon Men’s basketball game against Stanford at Matthew Knight Arena started off with a Stanford lead that the Ducks were not expecting. For the first 3 minutes, the Ducks missed multiple attempts at scoring and the Cardinals accumulated an 8-0 lead. Nate Bittle broke the streak for the Ducks with a 3-point jumper. From there on, the Ducks’ scoring went up and up at an impressive rate. Although Stanford did have a lead to begin with, their handles with the ball in the first half were quite questionable. At 15:12, Stanford’s Michael O’Connell lost the ball and gave the Ducks possession. This lostball turnover sent MKA into a frenzy after suffering an 8-point lead by Stanford with 0 points.
The Ducks slowly started creeping up to the Cardinals’ lead once Jermaine Couisnard ensues cheers around MKA with a second-chance jumper at 12:05 that gives the Ducks more hope for the remainder of the first half. What really gave the Ducks the upper hand and ultimate lead turnover over the Cardinals was at 7:28 with a 3-point jumper by Keeshawn Barthelemy, with assistance by Will Richardson, that set the score up at 22-21 for the Ducks. Immediately after, Keeshawn Barthelemy scored 2 more 3-point jumpers that told the MKA crowd that he and his teammates are ready for what Stanford is bringing them. The first half ends with a jumper by Will Richardson that made it in the basket right as the shot clock turned to 0. The first half ended with a Ducks lead at 39-34.
The second half of the game opened up at 19:41 with a Ducks 3-pointer by Quincy Guerrier, with assistance by Jermaine Couisnard, which really set the scene for the Ducks in the second half. A great highlight that made MKA go absolutely wild today was a strong, slammed-down block by N’Faly Dante on Michael O’Connell at 16:48. N’Faly Dante really proved today that he knows how and when to use his strength to his and his teammates’ advantage. He also continued to send MKA into mad cheers with an alleyoop dunk at 12:51 with assistance from Jermaine Couisnard. This electric move by Dante set the score for the Ducks at 52-43. Dante really showed up on the defense side tonight with 5 blocks and 12 rebounds.
The last 3 minutes of the game is where things started to get tense. Fouls were coming left and right, and free throw chances were being given out at moments that were crucial. It started with a foul on Brandon Angel that sent Rivaldo Soares to the line (2-2) at 2:57, maintaining a 70-64 lead. Jermaine Couisnard (2-2) was then sent to the line by Stanford’s Michael Jones with only 30 seconds in the game, and the score was set at 72-66 for the Ducks. Before MKA knew it, with 23.5 seconds left, Stanford’s Harrison Ingram was sent to the line for 3 (2-3) by our Will Richardson, now setting the score at 72-68 in these last crucial seconds. Only 1 second later, at 22.2 seconds, N’Faly Dante was sent to the line by Harrison Ingram for 2 (0-2), which was not a good scene for the Ducks. At 5.9 seconds, Michael Jones was sent to the line by Jermaine Couisnard for 2 (0-2) while the Ducks only had a 4-point lead. Luckily for the Ducks, Jones did not score. 2 seconds later, at 3.9 seconds, N’Faly Dante was sent to the line for 2 (1-2), and slightly elevated their lead to 73-68.
The game ended with a score of 73-68 and a win for the Oregon Ducks at their last home game of the season. Overall, the Ducks started off pretty rocky with failed scoring attempts and second-chance scores, but as the game went on, they really showed out and performed to their full potential to earn the win. This was definitely a physicality game with the excessive fouls, but everything worked out in the Ducks’ favor.