The No. 11 Oregon Ducks escaped the first round in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, beating No. 13 Seton Hall 71-69. The Ducks overcame poor shooting and a 32-point performance from Seton Hall’s Myles Powell. 

The Pirates jumped ahead early, but the Ducks kept the game close in the first half. Star point guard Payton Pritchard was called for two fouls in the first five minutes, and head coach Dana Altman made the decision to bench his senior guard early. As soon as Pritchard was benched, Seton Hall took advantage, going on a 9-2 scoring run.

Seton Hall’s biggest lead ballooned to 19 points in the second half, thanks to three-straight 3-point makes by Powell. 

The Ducks didn’t go away, though.

Slowly chipping away at the Seton Hall lead, Oregon managed to get the score to within two points with less than two minutes left in the game. 

With 15 seconds left, Pritchard threw up a contested, step-back 3-pointer that missed the entirety of the rim. Fortunately for the Ducks, Shakur Juiston had position down low, caught the air ball, put the ball back up and gave Oregon its first lead since early in the first half. 

Seton Hall had an opportunity to tie, but solid defense by the Ducks left the contested layup short and a rebound by CJ Walker iced the game in Oregon’s favor. 

The Ducks will play No. 8 Gonzaga on Thursday afternoon, with a chance to play for the championship on Friday.