Oregon's basketball season isn’t over yet as the Ducks lean on an outstanding night from the free throw line to beat the Weber State Wildcats 68-59 at Matthew Knight Arena on Wednesday night.

With the win, Oregon (17-17) moves on  to the second round of the College Basketball Invitational and face Duquesne in the quarterfinals on Monday. 

Joevan Catron scored 24 and nabbed 12 rebound leading the Ducks to victory. While his game certainly gave Oregon life, his emotional leadership gave Dana Altman and the Ducks a decided edge through out the game.

 

It may not have been the biggest story that came out of Selection Sunday, but the Oregon Ducks are going to the post-season.

Well, the College Basketball Invitational, anyway.

As Oregon sets to host Weber State from the Big Sky at Matthew Knight arena tonight, Dana Altman's team will be the only major conference team in the tournament, and some are questioning why the Ducks even accepted the bid. Quite frankly though, when a team has not played in any postseason tournament since 2008, it’s not really in a position to decline any invitations.

Some nights at the Rose Garden, you simply have to let the play and the players speak for themselves.

With Portland coming off the road from a two game skid and the Dallas Mavericks coming off a month where they posted an 11-1 record in February, Tuesday night was one of those nights.

For Portland, it never hurts beating a team that has beaten you 21 of the last 26 meetings. Make that 21 of the last 27 meetings. But that's what happens when the old Brandon Roy - not to mention another big game from LaMarcus Aldridge - makes a new impact and timely appearence for the Blazers.

Time to let the guys do the talking and walking.

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"We've been talking about challanging each other and encouraging each other and staying together. I thought they did that tonight and found a way to get this win." - Nate McMillan on Portland beating the Mavericks 104-101

Update: Too little, too late -- that was the case as the Portland Pilots season came to a close at the hands of the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, 76-64, in the CIT on Tuesday night.

After trailing as much as 17 points, the Pilots battled back in the second half thanks to Jared Stohl, who had a game-high 22 points in the loss. He finished his career as UP's all-time leader in three-point field goals with 336.

Unfortunately, Stohl was the only player for Portland who get going. The Pilots' other starters had a combined four first-half points on 2-for-18 shooting. Yet even with the loss, head coach Eric Reveno couldn't help but applaud his team for their 20-12 season, especially the outgoing senior core of Stohl, Luke Sikma, Jasonn Hannibal, Kramer Knudson.

"We've got some seniors to replace, but we'll replace them and move forward and keep getting better," Reveno told Jim Beseda of the Oregonian. "It's hard. All of a sudden, it feels as if there's a big void to fill, but we have the best young guys in the program that we've had since I've been here and we're poised to take another step forward.

"I fell like we've got unfinished business here that we need to take care of."

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The Portland Pilots don't want their season to end just yet, but the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors might have different plans in store on Tuesday night.

That's when the two teams meet in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT), a third consecutive appearence for head coach Eric Reveno and the Pilots as part of the expanded 24-team field this year.

A Portland win would be their first postseason victory in school history since they joined Division I basketball.

Then again, that historic outcome will depend on the Pilots' defensive game plan, not just their ability to fill it up on the other end from outside.

"Our Achilles' heel has been our defense. Turnovers have been problematic and that is also a point of concern, but defensively we've seen this before -- teams playing loose and confident and we're not able to distrupt them," Coach Reveno told Beyond the Beat.

For over a year now, a massive renovation of PGE Park has been underway.   The stadium should look as good as new, if not better, once the construction work is finished and ready for the players to take the pitch for the first home match.  But a new stadium deserves a new name, and as the Timbers organization proudly announced yesterday, that new name is now JELD-WEN Field.

JELD-WEN is a windows and doors company based out of Klamath Falls, Oregon.  Its new partnership with the Timbers gives the company the title of being the Official Window and Door Provider of the Timbers and Major League Soccer.  JELD-WEN can also now use Timbers and MLS branding at league and select club events.

An important aspect of the partnership is the community involvement factor.  As part of “Tix for Kids,” JELD-WEN will be donating 25 tickets to every home match that will go to underprivileged youth.  The company is also teaming up with Friends of Trees, pledging to plant a tree for every Timbers goal scored in 2011.