Ducks Fly Past Eagles 73-65
Don Smalley

 

It was never pretty, but Oregon's talent eventually took over and the Ducks (1-1) escaped with a 73-65 win over Eastern Washington in front of 6,096 Thursday night at Matthew Knight Arena.

 

Garrett Sim led the Ducks with 17 points and Tyrone Nared added 15 points and seven rebounds.

 

Oregon kept the Eagles in the game with 21 turnovers and by not making free throws. The Ducks were just 28-of-44 from the charity stripe. If Oregon could have cleaned those two areas up, this game wouldn't have been close.

 

"We obviously have a long ways to go as a basketball team. Our turnovers were really bad and we missed too many free throws," Coach Dana Altman said. "We didn't pay attention to the rules we set for ourselves as a team. We still have a long ways to go. We did still find a way to win and I think that's a huge credit to our returners down the stretch. It wasn't the type of performance I was looking for tonight."

 

But the Eagles gave the Ducks all they could handle building a nine-point lead early in the second half when Laron Griffin's jumper gave Eastern Washington a 43-34 advantage.

 

Oregon did put a run together with EJ Singler eventually cutting the Eagles' lead to two at 47-45 with 13:06 left but the Eagles came right back with a mini 6-1 run to increase their lead to 53-46 with just 11:33 remaining.

 

After the media timeout, Oregon came out as a new team.

 

The Ducks put together a 7-0 run to tie the game, the first six from Sim on three free throws and a three-pointer from the right side.

 

"Some guys don't know the system yet and Coach (Altman) went with the players that did.  We bought into it," said Loyd.

 

Tremaine Johnson sank a three with nine minutes left to give the Eagles a 56-53 lead and that would be Eastern Washington's last field goal until there was 1:18 left.

 

While the Eagles were finally struggling from the field, Oregon eliminated their turnovers and began making some shots. Johnathan Loyd laid the ball in to give the Ducks a 60-58 lead with 5:38 remaining and Oregon would not trail again.

 

Sim would put in an easy shot and then Nared knocked down a three to give Oregon a 65-58 lead with 5:18 left. Nared was perfect from the field (4-of-4) and from the free throw line (5-of-5).

 

But the word "perfect" would not be used to describe this game.

 

"We come every day, buy in to the system and keep learning offense and sets," said Sim. "It really paid off tonight, and we settled down in the second half."

 

Oregon shot 20-of-44 from the field (45.5 percent) and just 64 percent from the free throw line. Eastern Washington kept itself in the game, especially in the first half hitting seven of their first 12 three-pointers. But after that hot start, the Eagles cooled off by making just two of their next 12 attempts from the outside.

 

Cliff Colimon led the Eagles with 14 points and Johnson added 12 points to go with his seven rebounds.

 

The Ducks will go for their second win Sunday when they host Southeast Missouri State. The Redhawks are 1-2 with losses to Missouri (83-68) and a close loss to Bradley (66-65). Their lone win was a 95-60 win over Harris-Stowe State, an NAIA school.