University of Oregon
Oakland
Oregon Stumbles Against Oakland
12/22/07 | Men's Basketball
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -Derick Nelson had 22 points and nine rebounds, and Oakland stunned No. 23 Oregon 68-62 Saturday night.
It was the first win over a Top 25 team in school history for Oakland (5-6), the small school from Michigan. The Ducks (8-3) had a 20-0 run in the second half, but still couldn't avoid their second-straight loss.
The game was played as the second game of a doubleheader with No. 5 Texas-No. 10 Michigan State, and was supposed to provide a happy homecoming for Detroit natives Malik Hairston and Tajuan Porter.
The duo won a state championship at Renaissance High School in Detroit in 2004, but struggled in their return. Oregon's two leading scorers missed 17 of their 22 shots. Porter was just 1-of-9.
"It was the same thing that happened in the other losses this year," Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said. "They outworked us and our defensive effort was especially poor. We can't overlook anybody, and a team like this is going to play hard on their floor and up to the level of a top-25 ranked team."
Erik Kangas and Johnathan Jones added 12 each for Oakland.
Oregon and Oakland entered the game averaging 88.6 and 82.7 points per game, but the Ducks' output Saturday was its lowest of the season, outdoing its previous stop, an 88-79 loss vs. Nebraska in Omaha seven days earlier.
Joevan Catron led Oregon in scoring for the first time this season with 15 points. Maarty Leunen had 12 points and 12 rebounds for his eighth double-double this season in 11 games, and 19th of his career.
Oakland hit seven of its first eight 3-pointers on the way to an early double-digit advantage. It went 0-for-4 from beyond the arc the rest of the first half, but still took a 37-26 lead into intermission.
Keith Benson's dunk just 12 seconds into the second half made it a 14-point game, but Oakland didn't score again for nearly six minutes and missed nine straight shots.
In the meantime, two Bryce Taylor jumpers started a 20-0 Oregon run and 46-39 lead with 14:33 to go. All of those points came from the three starting seniors, including eight by Leunen.
The Golden Grizzlies, though, rallied to take a 53-52 lead on Nelson's layup with 7:37 left. After a Hairston put-back, Kangas hit his third and final 3-pointer to give Oakland a two-point edge.
The margin got as high as six, but Porter's first and only basket of the game, a 3-pointer, tied it at 60 with three minutes left.
Nelson put Oakland back ahead with two free throws, and after Hairston was called for traveling, Jones made it 64-60 from the line.
Porter missed a 3-pointer, then turned the ball over with 47 seconds left, forcing Oregon to start fouling.
The Golden Grizzlies missed two free throws in the final seconds, but it wasn't enough to allow the Ducks back into the game.
"We had a good start to the second half," Kent said, "and that was when our defensive intensity picked up, but we weren't able to keep it going. Hopefully, our guys understand how important it is now."
The Duck bench contributed only five points - a first-half three-pointer from freshman guard Kamryon Brown who played 18 minutes - and a bucket midway through the second half from LeKendric Longmire who played 12 minutes. Only two other Duck reserves play as center Mitch Platt and power forward Frantz Dorsainvil each played two minutes but didn't account for any points or rebounds.
In the stat sheet, Oregon ended with advantages in rebounds (33-31), field goal shooting (22-55 (40%)/21-56 (37.5%)) and free throw shooting (10-11 (91%)/18-27 (67%)), but turned the ball over four more times (13-9), and was whistled for 21 fouls compared to just 13 for Oakland (including only five in the second half compared to 13 for the Ducks).
The Ducks now have several days off for a short holiday break before hosting Mount St. Mary's next Friday, December 28 at 7 p.m. at McArthur Court in Eugene. The game is the Ducks' final non-conference stop, followed by league games at Arizona State and Arizona on Thursday, January 3 and Saturday, January 5, respectively.
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