NICEVILLE, FLA.— Senior guard Mark Sears scored a season-high 27 points, while graduate guard Aaron Estrada added 22 points as No. 15 ranked Alabama (USA Today coaches poll) trimmed Oregon, 99-91, in the third-place game of the Emerald Coast Classic Saturday at Raiders Arena on the campus of Northwest Florida State College.
The duo were among four Alabama players scoring in double figures less than 24 hours after the Crimson Tide’s 92-81 loss to Ohio State on Friday night. Guard Rylan Griffen scored 17 points, while forward Grant Nelson tallied 11 points. Nelson also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
“It’s good to come out with a win,” said Alabama coach Nate Oats, whose team improved to 5-1. “I thought we played hard…thought our team was better defensively and we did a better job on the glass. We made a little bit of a jump with our effort, but still need to improve.”
The Ducks, who slipped to 4-2, were led by guard Jermaine Couisnard who had 24 points, while dishing out a game-high six assists.
Oregon shot 52.2 percent (36-69) from the floor.
Alabama closed out the first half on an 11-2 run, making its last four shots to grab a 47-39 advantage.
“Oregon did a great job hanging with us, “ added Oats, whose team hit 50 percent from the floor (32-64). “Once they get healthy, I think they will perform well in the Pac-12 Conference. I give them a lot of credit for playing short handed on back-to-back days.”
Kario Oquendo came off the bench with 17 points for Oregon , while guards Keeshawn Barthelemy and Jackson Shelstad had 10 points apiece.
The Crimson Tide expanded an eight-point halftime lead with a 15-5 surge, capped by Estrada’s 3-pointer with 9:28 remaining, for a 78-61 lead.
A three-point basket by Estrada gave Alabama its biggest lead of the game at 81-63 with 8:09 remaining. Oregon was able to cut the deficit to six points on three occasions, but couldn’t get closer..
Alabama will host Clemson on Tuesday, as part of the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge series. Oregon returns home to prepare for next Saturday’s home game against Michigan. It will be the first of five home games in a six-game span in December.
“We had to play through some fatigue,” Oats said. “We uncharacteristically turned the ball over 16 times but we were able to make free throw and thought we competed against two high major opponents the past two days.”
