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

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

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

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

Oregon took an 81-75 lead after Barthelemy hit two free throws with 31 seconds left. After Alabama’s Aden Holloway responded 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 fouled him. Dioubate shot both free throws and made it 81-81 with 19 seconds left.

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

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.

souvenir

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

Oregon: By winning the tournament, the Ducks received an additional $500,000 in zero money, in addition to the $1 million guaranteed for each team in the field. The Crimson Tide received an additional $250,000 for second place.

KEY MOMENT

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

KEY STATUS

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

Next

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

– From staff and news reports