With all the hype surrounding our Oregon football team right now, our men’s basketball team is more or less out of the spotlight. It’s understandable that there’s such a heavy focus on our football team, as they are leading one of the best seasons in university football history; however, let’s not forget about the rest of our Ducks!
Last night our men’s basketball team faced California State University Northridge at Matthew Knight Arena and came out on top with a 79-56 final score. That’s not necessarily huge news. Our men’s basketball team is doing very well with a 7-3 overall record thus far in the season. The bigger news is that junior Michael Chandler, the tallest player on our Ducks team at 6’10, made a very memorable and successful debut last night.
Joseph Young led Oregon scoring-even if bloodied a bit.
According to an article by Ron Richmond on TheState.com, Chandler is a recent transfer from Northwest Florida College. He was out for the first nine games of the season with a left knee injury, but came back last night stronger than expected after such little practice time coming into this game. Chandler only had seven minutes on the floor the entire night, but scored a crucial and uplifting 13 points for his team. He scored nine points straight in just four minutes on the floor to give the Ducks a huge lead with a score of 71-46.
Head Coach Dana Altman said, “He gave us a big lift, did a good job, and posted up strong, and the guys did a really good job looking for him. He is a presence in there, and for the first time out not having many practices, he did a good job.” Even with limited time on the court, Chandler sure took advantage of his playing time. As our tallest man and an aggressive left-handed center in the post, I think we will probably see more of Chandler as the season continues. He is definitely a great asset to our Ducks team!
The men’s basketball team plays their next game on Saturday, December 20 at 12 p.m. at Matthew Knight Arena against Delaware State. It seems as though Matthew Knight Arena was less than half full in last night’s game; if you have a few hours on Saturday afternoon I suggest going to check out our Ducks in this home game! Not only is it exciting to watch any college basketball game, but MKA is an incredible gymnasium; I highly recommend it.
Top Photo from Video
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McKalie Bellew just moved to Oregon from Arizona. She is a sophomore at Lane Community College and moved here to pursue her dream of studying Sports Journalism and Broadcasting at the University of Oregon. Her passion for sports is admirable and her determination and hunger for success in the sports field is fascinating; if you ever have the chance to talk to McKalie face-to-face about sports, you’ll know how much she loves these games just by the way her eyes light up during the conversation. When unable to attend Ducks home games you can find her in front of a television on the edge of her seat, cheering her crazed-fan-head off. McKalie appreciates your feedback and constructive-criticism to help her become a better writer and reporter.