sports
Oregon falls in exhibition
Athletes in Action give Ducks 80-67 loss at Mac
By DONALD COULTER
Ol the Emerald
Oregon played a great first
half of basketball against Ath
letes in Action Wednesday
night
But, alas, it takes 40 minutes
of concentration to beat exper
ienced teams, something the
Ducks failed to do in their 80-67
exhibition loss before a Mac
Court crowd of 4,925
"The second half was like
night and day compared to the
first," Oregon head coach Jim
Haney lamented after the game
"We lost our mental toughness
and became careless on of
fense It was discouraging
The highlights for Oregon in
the game were almost all in the
first half Despite shooting only
42 percent from the floor, the
Ducks played strong man-to
man defense in what had to be
their finest half of basketball this
season
Oregon s defense forced
Athletes in Action (AIA) to turn
the ball over 14 times in the first
half, while the Ducks tied a taller
AIA team in the rebounding
department (19 each) Besides
an inability to box out effectively
on the offensive boards, the
Ducks showed patience in their
half-court offense, and kept the
score close throughout the half
With the score tied at 27-27
with 37 seconds to go, David
Brantley made two quick hoops
— the first on a fast break pass
from Fred Cofield, the next on a
soft 10-foot jumper in the key —
and the Ducks took a 31-27
halftime lead
"I felt we did good things
defensively," Haney said of the
first half, " and we were able
to get the ball inside But then
we got hurt in our first ten pos
sessions of the second half
"If we had them concerned at
halftime, we sure invited them
back into the game at the be
ginning of the second half "
The Ducks certainly did
Oregon turned the ball over four
times in the first six minutes and
Athletes in Action kept the
' S4 II *
Photo by David Corey
Oregon center Blair Rasmussen has shot blocked by Gig Sims of
Athletes in Action. AIA blocked an incredible 14 shots in the game at
McArthur Court Wednesday night The Ducks take on Rhode Island
tonight at 7:30
Ducks off the offensive boards
Meanwhile, AIA hit its first three
shots from the field and seven of
its first nine to go up by seven,
45-38
After Haney called a timeout
with 12 43 remaining, the Ducks
scored their first field goal in
four minutes on a John Greig lay
in, and moments later pulled the
score to 45-44 on a driving lay
up by Rodnie Taylor. Taylor's
basket came off an excellent
pass from Barry Walker, who
had driven the ball the length of
the court through three AIA
defenders
But Oregon could get no
closer for the rest of the game
Athletes in Action forced the
Ducks to lose their poise on
offense and take hurried shots,
while taking advantage them
selves of 21 of 25 free throw
attempts in the second half to
pull away from Oregon
"We stood around, offensive
ly, in the second half.” Haney
said "We became selfish on
offense and didn't move the ball
well "
Despite outrebounding Ath
letes in Action 42-40, the Ducks
turned the ball over 19 times As
a team, Oregon shot 38 percent
from the field, while AIA shot 52
percent Most amazing of all,
AIA blocked 14 Oregon shots.
twice as many as Oregon op
ponents combined for in the first
three games of the season
For the game, which will not
not count on Oregon's records
for the season. Jerome Williams
was once again the high scorer
for the Ducks with 13 points.
Gary Gatewood added 11 for
Oregon, and David Brantley had
9 John Greig and Fred Cofield
finished with 8 points each
Athletes in Action had three
players with 16 points each:
Dave Johnson. Gig Sims and
Steve Botranger The game
marks the fifth consecutive year
that AIA has defeated the Ducks
at Mac Court
Tonight, the Rhode Island
Rams come to Mac Court (7:30)
in a game resheduled from
Monday night. Rhode Island
enters the game with the same
record as Oregon, 2-1 The
Rams lost their most recent
game to Old Dominion last Sa
turday
"I'm just glad we didn't play
this way in the second half
against Rhode Island,” Haney
said after last night's loss
"Maybe playing better teams
will force us to play at a higher
level.
"My biggest concern now,”
Haney continued, trying in vain
not to sound like a broken
record this season, "is that we
learn how to sustain an effort for
40 minutes rather than 20 ."
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