Ducks Right The Ship Against NAVY

By Eric Sloat
Coming off their first loss of the season, the 6-1, 24th ranked, Oregon Ducks defeated NAVY, 67-47, in a game played in Bloch Arena on Pearl Harbor. The arena wasn’t very big, and it from the sweat visible on the players’ faces and uniforms it was pretty hot. The crowd was full of Navy personnel, and at least a few were conflicted, wearing uniforms, but also showing some ties to Oregon.
The Ducks wanted to make sure there was no carryover from the slow start against UNLV, and were much more focused on both ends of the court. A couple of free throws by Dwayne Benjamin, who was a starter in place of Tyler Dorsey; who, after taking a nasty fall against UNLV, sat this one out, capped a 12-0 run by the Ducks to make it 16-4. Ten minutes later, a dunk by Benjamin put the Ducks up 14, 31-17, and the half ended, 36-23.
The second half started out slower for the Ducks, and with 12:49 to go, a Navy 7-0 run made the score, 45-38. It wouldn’t get any closer for Navy but it wasn’t until the Ducks blitzed NAVY with 3 dunks in a row; first a lob to Chris Boucher, a breakaway slam by Benjamin, and another by Brooks finshed the scoring.
Brooks led the Ducks in scoring with 19, along with 6 rebounds and 6 assists, Benjamin totaled 14 points, 3 rebounds, Casey Benson hit double figures in scoring with 10, and Boucher registered another double double, 14 points, 14 rebounds, and 3 blocks. He was topped in the block category though by Trevor Manuel, who came off the bench and swatted away 4 shots.
Oregon finished shooting 47%, 24-51, it was a good night at the free throw line, 81%, 13-16, Brooks and Elgin Cook, both going 4-4. The defense limited NAVY to 32%, 18-57, and won the rebound battle, 34-29.
It was good for the Ducks to get back on track and Kendall Small and Manuel got some extended minutes on the court. Depth isn’t a luxury for the Ducks but they are doing well; as there is consistency in play whatever lineup is on the court.
Next Game: @ Boise State, Saturday.