Eric Williams Jr. scored 14 points, De’Vion Harmon added 13 and Oregon dominated the interior with a 42-18 advantage in points in the paint en route to a 73-49 win over Chaminade on Monday night in the first round of the Maui Classic at Las Vegas.
Raazhel Watkins led the Silverswords with 13 points and eight rebounds.
After a blowout loss last week to BYU that dropped them out of the Top 25, the Ducks (3-1) started slowly and finished the first half in a rut. They missed 11 of their last 13 shots of the first half but led 29-22 thanks to defense and athleticism.
Oregon led 21-7 and 24-10 in the first half, with Chaminade (2-1) committing eight turnovers, including three shot-clock violations because of Oregon’s switching defense and the interior size advantage. The Ducks made only 29.7 percent of their shots before the break while the Silverswords were at 24.1 percent.
Chaminade trailed just 26-22 late in the first half before Harmon’s three-point play with 24 seconds left gave the Ducks a seven-point halftime lead. Williams had 10 of Oregon’s points before the break, and Watkins had 11 before intermission for Chaminade.
The second half was a different Oregon team, the one that on paper would overwhelm Division II Chaminade. Early runs of 9-0 and 11-0 put Chaminade away, with the Ducks taking a 51-31 lead on a reverse layup from N’Faly Dante with 11:02 to play.
A transition dunk from Rivaldo Soares, in which he flew to the rim for a pass from Isaac Johnson, gave the Ducks a 61-38 edge, but at that point late in the second half, the game was no longer in the balance.
A 3-pointer from the top of the arc from seldom-used Gabe Reichle with 45.3 seconds to go were the final points for the Ducks.
Oregon shot 61.3 percent in the second half.
–Field Level Media
