Both the Ducks (5-0) and Beavers (4-1) men's basketball teams have looked stout to start the 2024-25 season, with the exception of Oregon’s poor shooting night against the University of Portland. With that said, neither team has faced a Power-Four test until tonight. This was an opportunity for both squads to show the college basketball world what their potential could be moving forward.
Oregon looked to continue its strong play after a wire-wire 82-61 point win over Troy last Sunday, a game that saw five Ducks reach double figures in scoring.
Oregon State looked to stay hot following its 70-51 point win over Cal State Fullerton last Friday, a contest in which guard Nate Kingz and forward Michael Rataj combined for 40 points.
Gill Coliseum was rocking out of the gate, as it should for a rivalry contest. The junior forward out of Augsburg, Germany, Michael Rataj, nailed two 3-pointers in the first four minutes and had the Beavs up 12-7 at the first media timeout.
Oregon center Nate Bittle did some damage out of that timeout. He put on six quick points and pulled the Ducks to within one. But with just over 12 minutes to play in the half, Jackson Shelstad and Bittle miscommunicated a defensive rebound and bobbled the ball into the hands of Beavers center Matthew Marsh. He laid it in and was fouled by Bittle on the shot, a three-point play for the Beavs.
With eight minutes in the half, it was Oregon State guard Kingz who brought life to the Beaver crowd, swatting a Raheem Moss corner 3 into the bleachers to hold a 25-21 Oregon State lead.
With the Beavers holding momentum, Oregon called timeout and came out in a 2-3 zone full-court press, looking to create some Oregon State turnovers. But the Beavers didn't bow out, a 9-0 run led by Lithuanian big man Liutauras Lelevicius brought the Beaver crowd to its feet, a 40-29 point advantage for OSU and a timeout from the Ducks.
The Beavs weathered the Oregon storm and took a 47-37 point advantage into the locker room.
The statistical difference that told the first half story was the rebounding battle, the Beavers out-rebounded the Ducks 20-13. That difference in hustle showed on the floor, not to mention a whopping 28 combined points from Lelevicius and Rataj, sparked by that rebounding differential.
Bittle came out of halftime as a one-man wrecking crew. He put up six straight points in the paint and pulled the Ducks to within single digits.
“That's what coach Altman wanted me to do,” Bittle said. “At halftime, I was 3-for-3 inside and he said keep going inside… I gotta give thanks to my teammates for trusting me inside and making the right plays.”
Once again Oregon State controlled the tide. The Beavers held Oregon to two points for four minutes of game time and jumped out to a 58-47 point lead with 13 minutes left to play.
With the Ducks down by six a Shelstad layup in transition was swatted out of bounds by Rataj, firing up the Oregon State sideline. Oregon wasn't fazed however and strung together two made baskets that cut the lead to five with eight minutes left, here it became apparent that this was another Ducks versus Beavers matchup that was destined to come down to the wire.
Shelstad then put in a corner triple that made it a two-point game — Oregon fans could smell the comeback. After an Oregon State turnover and a Bittle floater later, the game was tied at 66.
With 5:30 left to go, Shelstad stepped into the moment. He pumped in a deep left-wing 3 and the Ducks took the lead in the midst of a 10-0 run that took only two minutes and 50 seconds.
Oregon State cut the lead to two with a pair of free throws. This is where the game got chippy, where both teams realized a win could turn into a loss or the other way around with a few key plays.
With 46.1 seconds left and the Ducks up two, Josiah Lake II went to the line with a chance to tie the game. He made his first and missed his second, keeping the Oregon lead at one point.
Shelstad made his way down the floor and chewed 21 seconds of the game clock before hitting arguably the toughest shot of the night, a fade-away one-handed flip shot on the baseline put Oregon up three with 25.9 left to play.
“That's just trust in all the work I’ve put in,” Shelstad said. “I wasn't really thinking about making or missing it I was just trusting my work, got to my spot and it felt good coming off my hand and I wasn't surprised it went in those are shots I work on every day.”
Oregon State forward Parsa Fallah was fouled on the floor, two shots at the line with the Ducks in the double bonus, 76-75 point game with 14 seconds left. Jadrian Tracey was fouled on the inbound pass and stepped to the line with a chance to re-extend the Oregon lead to three, and that he did.
Oregon State roared down the floor with a chance to tie the game with a 3-pointer Rataj took the shot from beyond the arc that hit the backboard and front rim, falling into the arms of Bittle. The Ducks won a thriller.
“Until the 14-minute mark [Oregon State] controlled the game,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said postgame. “Thirteen nothing second chance points at one time, and points off turnovers [Oregon State] dominated, but we got that turned around with 12-2 [second chance points] in the second half and I think that was the difference in the game.”
Bittle finished with a career-high in both points and rebounds behind 23 and 14. Along with Shelstad’s 15 points, it was the homegrown talent that put the Ducks over the edge in Corvallis.
Oregon is now 5-0 heading into the Players Era Festival tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada. Its first game is Tuesday, Nov. 16 against a good Texas A&M team.