With 17 seconds remaining in a tie ball game, Oregon’s Dwayne Benjamin was at the free throw line preparing to shoot the biggest set of free throws in the Oregon basketball season. To that point, Benjamin was shooting 44-percent on the season and was 2-for-4 on the night.
After missing the first free throw, Benjamin took a deep breath and calmly knocked down the second free throw for the 71-70 lead.
Stanford’s Chasson Randle missed a layup on the other end and Oregon’s Joseph Young corralled the rebound with three seconds left before being fouled to preserve the win. For good measure, Young went to the free throw line and calmly knocked down two foul shots for the final points of the game.
With the 73-70 victory over Stanford, the Ducks have not only clinched a first round bye in the upcoming Pac-12 tournament, they have earned a victory over another NCAA Tournament “bubble” team.
The game was close throughout as neither team led by more than three points over the final 10 minutes of the contest.
With 4:28 remaining, and the Ducks trailing by three, 66-63, Stanford was looking to put the game away. Oregon’s Elgin Cook caught the ball from the left side and after driving hard into the lane, found a wide open Benjamin in the corner for a three. Benjamin made the shot as the Ducks tied the game and swung the momentum back in their favor.
At the three-minute mark, Stanford looked to take the lead with a wide open layup but Oregon’s Jordan Bell came out of nowhere to block the ball. Bell then sprinted the length of the court and took a half-court alley-oop ass from Young and dunked the ball for the 68-66 lead.
The teams traded layups before a pair of Stanford free throws tied the game at 70 and set the stage for game’s final 30 seconds.
Young and Cook led Oregon with a game-high 21 points each while Benjamin added 15 points and eight rebounds.
Although the Ducks were outshot at the free throw line (11-for-16 vs. 22-for-31), they went 8-f0r-20 from three-point territory to make up for the free throw discrepancy.
Oregon travels to Corvallis on Wednesday night for an 8 p.m. tipoff against Oregon State in the regular season finale. The Ducks defeated the Beavers 71-59 at home back on January 3.
Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter @Ryan_Kostecka