It might have been the 334th Civil War, but it was Dana Altman's first and it was a memorable one.
The Ducks went to Corvallis and defeated the Beavers 63-59 for their second Pac-10 victory of the season. Oregon State fell to 3-4 in league play.
Jay-R Strowbridge scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half, including two free throws with seven seconds left to seal the deal for the Ducks. E.J. Singler led Oregon with 16 points and Garrett Sim added 15.
The Ducks hit for 50 percent from the field (24-of-48) - their best mark in Pac-10 play - and nine three-pointers against the Beavers' patented 1-3-1 zone.
"Maybe. You can never overlook an opponent," Singler said on whether the Beavers took the Ducks a bit too lightly. "We just wanted to come up, play with toughness and give it all we had."
It looked as if Oregon was going to escape Gill Coliseum with a mildly comfortable win after Singler buried two foul shots with 37 seconds remaining, giving the Ducks a 61-54 advantage. But the Beavers wouldn't quit or go away.
Jared Cunningham nailed a three from the right wing to pull OSU within four. After fouling Singler with 27 ticks left, the Beavers were given more hope when the sophomore from Medford missed both shots.
Ahmed Starks missed a three on the ensuing Beaver possession, but Roberto Nelson's put-back basket made it a one-possession game with 8.5 seconds left. After an Oregon State timeout, Oregon inbounded the ball to Strowbridge, who was then fouled and made both free throws to seal the game and account for the final tally.
Nelson's desperation three with four seconds left did not find the mark and the rebound was tipped around until the buzzer sounded.
"We knew that there were going to be runs, especially on someone else's home court," Singler said. "But I feel like we handled it well. We didn't let it get to us."
In the past three meetings Oregon has had difficulty scoring against Craig Robinson's defensive scheme, but not on this night, or at least for the first 20 minutes. Oregon came out of the gates on fire and the Ducks attacked Oregon State's zone defense with crisp ball movement and good shot selection.
Oregon's defense on the other end of the floor frustrated the Beavers early on, forcing Oregon State to take a number of deep shots, most of them ill-advised.
Sim led the Ducks with 10 points in the opening frame and his early accuracy helped Oregon build a 33-16 lead. But the Beavers turned on the defensive pressure to score eight in a row in the last three minutes of the half to pull within nine at the break, 33-24.
The Beavers extended their rally in the opening moments of the second half, with Lathen Wallace scoring five quick points including a deep three that cut Oregon's lead to single digits.
Eventually the home team fashioned a 44-40 lead and with Gill's biggest crowd of the season in full voice, the Beavers seemed poised to extend their recent hardwood mastery over the Ducks.
But rather than fall to their rivals for the fourth consecutive time, Singler got Oregon back on the right track with a tough lay-up off a Johnathon Loyd feed.
Guard Jay-R Strowbridge hit for three straight buckets, then Singler drained a bomb from the right wing to wrest the momentum away from the Beavers, and Oregon hit enough of their free throws down the stretch to keep the Beavers at arm's length for their first conference road win of the season.
The Ducks take to the road again next week with games in the Bay Area against Stanford (Thursday) and Cal (Saturday).
