Brooks rallies top-seed Oregon past St. Joseph's

SPOKANE — It was more of a fistfight than the free-flowing game they’re used to playing, but the Oregon Ducks are headed back to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2013.

The top-seeded Ducks, down by seven and seemingly on the way to a quick exit with 5:31 left, regrouped, battled back and overtook the eighth-seeded Saint Joseph’s Hawks 69-64 in a second-round NCAA Tournament game Sunday night before 11,296 at the Spokane Arena.

“There was no panic; we just made plays at the end,” said Oregon freshman guard Tyler Dorsey, who finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. “We just wanted to stay composed, and get stops on the defensive end.”

Oregon (30-6) will play Duke on Thursday night in Anaheim, Calif., in a West Regional semifinal.

Saint Joseph’s finished 28-8.

Oregon built a 45-35 lead on a 3-pointer by sophomore forward Dillon Brooks with just over 14 minutes to go.

But Saint Joseph’s, with its fans holding signs saying, “The Hawk will never die,” refused to die. The Hawks responded with a 23-6 run and took a 58-51 lead on freshman guard Lamarr Kimble’s pull-up jumper with 5:31 left.

Brooks’ 3-point play gave the Ducks life, and when Dorsey followed up a miss by Elgin Cook, the game was tied at 58 with 2:40 left.

The lead went back and forth a couple of times. Oregon took the lead for good on a guard handoff play where Cook drove into the lane and kicked off to Brooks on the right wing, and Brooks rose up for the go-ahead 3-pointer to put the Ducks up 64-62 with 1:21 to play.

Oregon forced a shot clock violation with 49.1 seconds left, and Cook was fouled and hit two free throws with 35.4 seconds left.

DeAndré Bembry drove for a layup for Saint Joseph’s to cut the Oregon lead to two, and Casey Benson of Oregon answered with 1 of 2 free throws with 23.5 seconds left to put the Ducks up 67-64.

But Bembry lost the ball at the top of the key, Dorsey dove into the ball and was fouled, and Dorsey hit two free throws with 9.8 seconds to ice it.

“It didn’t look good with 5:30 to go,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “Down seven, and we weren’t playing well. We had a lot of bad possessions, but I’m proud of the way my guys regrouped and fought back. I thought the press helped, changed the tempo and the rhythm of the game a little bit. Then we just had some guys make some plays.”

On the pivotal play in the closing seconds, Bembry ran a high pick and roll with Isaiah Miles, with the option to either drive to the hoop or kick the ball to Miles for a 3. But Bembry lost the ball on the dribble, he and Oregon’s Tyler Dorsey dove to the floor after it. Both had their hands on the ball when Miles dove into the pile and plowed into Dorsey. Even with as much physical play as was allowed in the game, that was called a foul.

“It was right there,” Bembry said. “The last turnover I had, you never know would could have happened. I blame this loss on me; I can’t turn the ball over like that. We were right there, a possession away.”

Brooks led all scorers with 25 points. Cook added 18, Dorsey 14.

Bembry, a 6-6 junior forward and the player of the year in the Atlantic 10 Conference, finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Kimble had 11 points off the bench and Miles, who hit the game-winning 3-pointer to beat Cincinnati on Friday night, had eight.

Bembry and Miles each had just two points in the first half, and the Hawks had to feel pretty good at halftime despite trailing 32-27.

“We were proud to be in a game like that,” Saint Joseph’s coach Phil Martelli said. “It wasn’t a thing of beauty, especially in the first half. But to have that opportunity to play in a game against a wonderful man and great coach in coach Altman. We just didn’t make plays in the last minute and a half.”

Both teams said it was a physical, but clean game.

“We knew it was going to be a dogfight,” said Oregon sophomore forward Jordan Bell, who played 28 minutes off the bench and grabbed 10 rebounds.