Nate Bittle’s putback dunk helps Oregon men’s basketball edge Alabama to win the Players Era Festival

On By Littum

Nate Bittle threw down a putback dunk with 4.5 seconds left and the Oregon Ducks held on to beat No. 9 at Alabama 83-81 and win the Players Era Festival championship Saturday night in Las Vegas.

Keeshawn Barthelemy led the way for Oregon with 22 points, 7-of-11 shooting and 4-of-5 three-pointers as the Ducks pulled out the thrilling men’s basketball victory.

Bittle finished with 19 points and nine rebounds for Oregon (8-0), which won despite seeing a six-point lead disappear in the final minute.

Oregon went up 81-75 after Barthelemy hit two free throws with 31 seconds left. After Alabama’s Aden Holloway answered with a three-pointer, the Crimson Tide’s Mark Sears got a steal and was fouled by Oregon’s Brandon Angel. Sears made the first free throw and missed the second, but Alabama’s Mouhamed Dioubate grabbed the rebound and the Ducks chased him down. Dioubate made both free throws to tie it at 81-81 with 19 seconds left.

On the Ducks’ ensuing possession, Barthelemy’s jumper rolled off the backboard and rim, but Bittle was there to dunk it. Alabama’s final attempt came after the buzzer and was waved off.

Barthelemy added four rebounds, four assists and two steals, while TJ Bamba had 12 points and Supreme Cook scored 11.

Labaron Philon scored 15 points for the Crimson Tide (6-2), which had five players finish in double figures.

TAKEAWAYS

Alabama: The Crimson Tide made 12 of 38 three-pointers to keep the game close.

Oregon: By winning the tournament, the Ducks received an additional $500,000 in NIL money to go along with the guaranteed $1 million for each team in the field. The Crimson Tide earned an extra $250,000 for finishing second.

KEY MOMENT

Oregon trailed 74-70 with 3:50 left in the game when Barthelemy forced a foul and made two free throws to cut the lead to two. That started a run in which the Ducks outscored the Crimson Tide 12-1 to take an 81-75 lead.

KEY STAT

The Crimson Tide had 13 turnovers compared to just seven by the Ducks. Oregon scored 17 points off the turnover.

NEXT UP

Oregon opens Big Ten play with a visit to USC at 7:30pm Wednesday (Big Ten Network).

— From personnel and management reports