Oregon defeats Stanford for 4th consecutive victory

Stanford, CA - Oregon knocked down a series of late free throws as the Ducks held on to defeat the Stanford Cardinal, 73-70, in Pac-12 Conference action at Maples Pavilion.

Joseph Young, who converted a pair at the charity stripe with 2.9 seconds remaining in regulation, accounted for 21 points, matching the production of Elgin Cook as the Ducks (22-8, 12-5 Pac-12) notched a fourth straight victory and the eighth in the last nine outings overall. Dwayne Benjamin, who also had a late free throw to break a 70-70 tie, added 15 points and eight rebounds off the bench.

Stanford (18-10, 9-7) was paced by Chasson Randle with 17 points, but he shot only 6-of-18 from the floor and had a costly turnover late in the meeting as the host had a two-game win streak snapped. Stefan Nastic added 16 points, Marcus Allen 14 and Anthony Brown 11 for the Cardinal.

Despite shooting only 8-of-22 from the floor in the first half, which included 1-of-7 behind the 3-point line, Stanford led by six points early on. However. 48.3 percent accuracy from the field by Oregon brought the visitors back and moved them out to a 36-30 advantage at the break.

In the second half there were a total of seven ties and 10 lead changes as Stanford was forced to come from behind in the final seconds. Unfortunately, after throwing the ball away, Randle was given a second chance to play the hero, but his wild layup attempt went unanswered and was recovered on the floor by Young who was subsequently fouled.

With under three seconds to play Young stepped to the line for this first free throws of the evening and knocked down both.

Still with time remaining, the Cardinal had another chance to extend the game, but the inbounds pass was picked off and the Ducks ran out the clock.

Stanford outscored the Ducks at the free-throw line, 22-11, but the host made good on a mere 4-of-19 from beyond the arc.