Oregon Daily Emerald
February 14, 2005
“I’m used to Big Ten officials, where they
kind of let the kids decide the game. ”
Washington State men’s basketball coach Dick Bennett
on his displeasure with Pac-10 officiating
■ Men's basketball
Ducks overcome slump, beat WSU 69-66
Oregon missed four of six free
throws in the clutch, hut held
on for a much-needed victory
BY JON ROETMAN
SENIOR SPORTS REPORTER
The Oregon men’s basketball team
ended its six-game losing streak with a
69-66 win against Washington State on
Saturday at McArthur Court.
After a Malik Hairston free throw
gave the Ducks a three-point lead with
5.9 seconds remaining, the Cougars
had one final possession to tie the
game, but freshman point guard Der
rick Low was forced into an off-bal
anced three-pointer that fell well short.
The win puts Oregon (12-9 overall,
4-8 Pacific-10 Conference) back into the
hunt for a berth in the Pac-10 Tournament.
The Ducks still own the conference’s ninth
spot but are now only a game behind
three teams and own a potential tie-break
er over the Cougars (10-12,5-8).
“We needed a win more than any
thing,” Hairston said. “It still wasn’t the
most pretty basketball that we could
have played, but a win is a win at this
point in time.”
The top eight finishers in the Pac-10
qualify for the conference tournament —
held March 10-12 in Los Angeles — with
the winner gaining an automatic berth
into the NCAA Tournament.
Oregon led for 38 minutes of Saturday’s
contest but almost gave away the game
late in the second half. After regaining a
67-66 lead on a Bryce Taylor layin with
61 seconds remaining, the Ducks once
again froze up at the foul line. Oregon had
six attempts to pad its lead during the
game’s final 25 seconds but connected on
only two of its free throws.
However, the Ducks managed to
Erik R. Bishopf | Photographer
Malik Hairston scores - with his headband pulled down over his eyes - during Saturday’s 69-66
win against Washington State at McArthur Court.
survive and focused on the play of their
four true freshmen instead. Chamber
lain Oguchi, Maarty Leunen, Taylor and
Hairston all scored double figures and
played key roles in the game.
Oguchi, whose playing time has
increased as of late, came off the bench to
score 12 points and knock down a trio of
three-pointers in 15 minutes.
“I can contribute to this team’s suc
cess, and everybody knew that all
along,” Oguchi said. “Now my time has
come, and 1 have to show these people
what I have.”
Taylor also scored a team-high 12
points, while Leunen and Hairston added
11 points each.
While Hairston made some outstand
ing plays offensively — including a layin
with his headband pulled over Iris eyes —
his biggest play came on defense. With
Oregon leading 68-66, Washington State
forward Chris Schlatter flashed open for
the tying basket with less than 10 seconds
remaining. But when Low tried to get him
the ball, Hairston knocked away the slow
bounce pass and saved the game.
The freshman swingman said after the
game that he made a “nice read. ”
Hairston also finished with a game
high eight rebounds as the Ducks out re
bounded the undersized Cougars, 31-22.
Low played well for Washington State
and kept the Cougars in the ball game
with his perimeter shooting. The Honolu
lu, Hawaii, native scored a game-high
19 points on 7 of 12 shooting. Senior
Thomas Kelati added 14 points for the
Cougars on 5 of 9 shooting.
Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said Sat
urday’s win was an important confidence
builder for a young team fighting to make
the Pac-10 Tournament.
“I’m extremely happy for this team,”
Kent said. “The game actually became a
miniature version of our season. We
played well and looked good early on and
then we started to struggle. The good
thing was they found a way to win down
the stretch.”
jonroetman@ daily emerald, com
■ Duck wrestling
Oregon falls in dosing seconds
to rival Oregon State, 21-18
BY SCOTT J. ADAMS
DAILY EMERALD FREELANCE REPORTER
Oregon (5-9 overall, 2-5 Pacific-10
Conference) was 15 seconds away
from sending Oregon State (10-8-1,
5-2-1) back home with a loss before
the Beavers’ Jamie Rakevich record
ed a late takedown of Duck sopho
more Cody Parker, giving him a 4-3
win in the heavyweight division and
Oregon State a 21-18 win in the sec
ond Civil War dual this season. The
dual marked a Beaver sweep against
the Ducks this season and closed Ore
gon’s Pac-10 home schedule.
Going into the heavyweight match,
both teams were tied at 18 after the
Ducks clawed their way out of a nine
point deficit. Oregon did not score a
point in the dual until the sixth match
of the afternoon, with the exception of
six charity points gained by way of
forfeit in the 133-pound weight class.
“I’m very disappointed with the
loss,” Oregon junior Joey Braca
monte said. “The win was in the
bag, and it was a good dual coming
down to the wire. The team and I are
very upset about it.”
The dual began in traditional
manner with the 125-pound
wrestlers taking the mat first. Eric
Stevenson of Oregon State battled
Joey Lucas early and pulled away to
a 14-4 win. Following Oregon State’s
ensuing forfeit, the Beavers’ Tim
Norman (141) and Tony Hook (157)
recorded wins to increase Oregon
State’s lead to 15-6 going into the
match between No. 17 Bracamonte’s
(165) and No. 18 Matt Ellis.
The match lived up to its hype as
both wrestlers fought until the final
seconds of the third round to break a
1-1 tie. Bracamonte finally got a take
down with less than five seconds left,
giving him a 3-1 win and putting
some wind back in Oregon’s sails.
Oregon State kept the pressure on
Oregon in the 174-pound match as the
Beavers’ Jeremy Larson surrendered
only one point to junior Chet McBee
en route to a 6-1 win.
With matches becoming scarce, the
Ducks turned to junior Shane Webster
(184) for hope. Webster, nursing a
shoulder injury suffered in practice,
cautiously wrestled Dan Pitsch but
managed to earn a 7-1 victory, closing
the team deficit to six points once
more. Webster is ranked No. 11 at the
174 weight-class this season but will
wrestle at 184 for the remainder of the
year, head coach Chuck Kearney said.
McBee will take over at 174.
No. 5 senior Scott Barker (197) held
the game in his hands as he took on
freshman TYavis Gardner. A pin by
Barker would tie the team scores,
making the heavyweight match a
winner-takes-all bout. Barker didn’t
disappoint fans at McArthur Court, as
he needed only 53 seconds to put
Gardner’s back to the mat.
Barker’s first-round pin placed the
outcome of the dual for both teams on
the shoulders of Parker (Hwt.) and
Rakevich. Parker recorded a takedown
in the first round of the match, but a
pair of escapes by Rakevich tied the
score at 2-2 going into the third round.
Parker recorded an escape for a one
point lead, but he could not hold on
for the win. Rakevich unleashed a re
lentless barrage of takedown attempts,
the last of which landed him on top of
Parker with 14 seconds remaining.
Rakevich earned a 4-3 win and sealed
a 21-18 Oregon State victory.
Before the dual started, Kearney
and all in attendance honored Oregon
seniors Barker and Luke Larwin for
their final dual at McArthur Court.
The Ducks will compete against Port
land State on Wednesday to close out
their Pac-10 dual season.
■ Women's lacrosse
Ducks stay
positive after
slaughter by
the Cardinal
BY BEAU EASTES
DAILY EMERALD FREELANCE REPORTER
Among chaos in the press box, inexperienced
fans and media and even a home announcer still
learning the sport, Oregon’s first ever lacrosse
game against Stanford was often exciting — and
at times confusing — on and off the field.
The Ducks fell to the Cardinal 19-6 in their in
augural match Saturday at Pape Field. In front
of more than 800 fans who braved the rain, Ore
gon shocked Stanford early by taking a 2-0 lead
off goals from freshmen Jen May and Lindsay
Killian in the first four minutes of play. The Car
dinal answered with two quick scores of its own
before Killian and fellow freshman Theresa
Waldron found the back of freshman goalie
Laura Shane’s net, making the score 4-2 in Ore
gon’s favor with 17:43 left in the first half.
“They’re tough,” Stanford head coach
Michele Uhlfelder said. “I see unbelievable po
tential for this program ... They’re gonna im
prove at a very quick rate. ”
But Stanford’s experienced players soon took
over the game. The Cardinal, returning 13 players
from last year’s 9-9 squad, went on an 8-0 run
LACROSSE, page 12
GAME TIME
Wed. Feb. 16
Wrestling
Oregon vs. Portland State @
Salem, 7 p.m.
Thu. Feb. 17
Women's
basketball
Oregon vs.
Arizona State, 7 p.m.
Men's basketball
Oregon @ Arizona,
5:30 p.m.
Fri. Feb. 18-Sun.
Feb.20
Softball
Oregon @
UC-Riverside Invitational
Fri. Feb. 18
Men's tennis
Oregon @ Minnesota,
3:30 p.m.
Sat. Feb. 19
Women's
basketball
Oregon vs. Anzona,
2 p.m.
Men's basketball
Oregon @
Arizona State, 4 p.m.
Men's tennis
Oregon @ Northwestern,
6 p.m.
GAME
SCORES
Fri. Feb. 11
Men’s tennis
Boise State 6, Oregon 1
Women’s tennis
Oregon 6, Washington
State 1
Sat. Feb. 12
Men's basketball
Oregon 69,
Washington State 66
UO: Oguchi, Taylor 12 pts
Women’s basketball
Washington 81, Oregon 57
UO: Forristall 19 pts
Softball
Oregon 11, UC-Riverside 3
Oregon 7, Texas State 1
Lacrosse
Stanford 19, Oregon 6
Sun. Feb. 13
Softball
Michigan 9, Oregon 0
Oklahoma State 3, Oregon 2
NBA
Miami 96, San Antonio 92
MIA: Wade 28 pts
Cleveland 103,
Los Angeles Lakers 89
CLE: llgauskas 30 pts
Chicago 87, Minnesota 83
MIN: Sprewell 26 pts
Indiana 76, Memphis 73
IND: Jackson 19 pts
Orlando 97, New Orleans 94
NO: Dickau 28 pts
New Jersey 94, Denver 79
NJ: Carter 23 pts