The Oregon Ducks met a challenge Monday night but still improved to 2-0 on the season with an 80-55 win over Division II Bowie State in front of 8,211 at McArthur Court.
One night after a season-opening 83-23 win against Savannah State – the third largest margin of victory in school history – the Ducks were tested early and often by the Bulldogs, who finished last season ranked third in the Division II national poll.
Maarty Leunen had a career-high 15 points, including 13 in the second half, and Oregon shot 25 of 26 from the free-throw line to claim the victory in the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
“We came out pretty slow and didn’t shoot the ball particularly well in the first half,” Leunen said. “It’s not the way we planned it to be, but we got the ‘W.’”
Oregon was cold from the field in the beginning and finished the first half shooting 1 of 8 from three-point range and 14 of 27 from the field. But the Ducks compensated with an 18-10 rebounding advantage and 8 for 8 shooting from the free-throw line.
After a layup by Ivan Johnson gave Oregon a 28-21 lead, the Ducks went on an 9-5 run to close the half with a 37-26 lead. Oregon managed 22 points in the paint compared with Bowie State’s eight.
“Our inside presence continues to grow,” Oregon coach Ernie Kent said. “Ray (Schafer) and Ivan (Johnson) played extremely well in there.”
Leunen scored the first eight Oregon points in the second half, including two three pointers, to help the Ducks build a 45-31 lead less than three minutes into the second half. From there, the Ducks made 17 of 18 free throws and used a hounding defense to keep the game out of reach.
Four other Oregon players finished in double digits, led by Johnson’s 14 points. Brandon Lincoln tied his career-high with 12 points, Aaron Brooks had 11 and Malik Hairston added 10. The Ducks shot 43.1 percent from the field.
“In a ball game we didn’t shoot the three well, I thought we had another good game defensively,” Kent said. “Maarty Leunen got us going a little bit in the second half with the threes … and we gave ourselves a chance to take control of the game with our free-throw shooting.”
Derick Payne led the Bulldogs with 21 points along with Thomas Hawkins who had 14. Bowie State shot 38.8 percent from the field and 36.4 percent (8 of 22) from three-point range.
“Defensively, I thought they (the Ducks) were great,” Kent said. “We just needed to make some shots.”
The Ducks play their third game of the Hispanic College Fund Classic in a row tonight before taking on Rice at home on Saturday – a game which is not a part of the tournament. The Ducks then hit the road to face Vanderbilt before returning home for the final game of the tournament against Georgetown on Saturday Dec. 3.
Tonight the Ducks will face Pacific, last season’s Big West Champion. Led by senior Christian Maraker, the Tigers are coming off a 27-4 record in 2004-05 and a berth into the NCAA Tournament where they beat Pittsburgh 79-71 in the first round before bowing out against Washington 97-79 in the second round.
“They (Pacific) are a very well-coached team,” Kent said. “They’ve got three great guards to shoot the ball extremely well. It’s going to be a good match-up for us.”
Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

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