OREGON — It wasn’t the prettiest exhibition of basketball, but as the old saying goes, “a W is a W.”

Oregon came up the W and Stillman Valley the L in a 58-45 contest that gave fans from either team little to cheer about in a very quiet BlackHawk Center.

“It wasn’t too fun to watch was it,” Oregon’s Ben Jacobs said. “It was a sloppy game all together.”

“I was pretty disappointed with our energy,” Oregon coach Quinn Virgil said. “After playing Lutheran hard for three quarters and Hinckley for four, it’s been a long week.”

Jacobs staked the Hawks (6-9, 1-2) to an early 5-0 lead and they never looked back. The closest Stillman (3-10, 0-3) would come would be 21-20 midway through the second quarter after a Shay Bubnack 3-point play.

“It’s been the story of our season,” SV coach Tim Bukoski said. “We create opportunities, but the ball doesn’t seem to bounce our way.”

The Cardinals’ Eric Claussen appeared to have a steal after Bubnack’s score, but Oregon’s Ryan Rosenbalm regained possession to prevent a momentum change.

Seconds later, Drew Smith, who was 4-for-6 from beyond the arc, made it 24-20 and Stillman would would never get any closer.

“We were worried about Jacobs, but it was Smith knocking down the threes,” Bukoski said.

“We have four guys (Jacobs, Smith, Rosenbalm and Nathan Todd) that can score on any given night,”
Virgil said.

All four were in double figures, including Todd, who gave Oregon it biggest lead at 48-35 early in the fourth quarter.

“I thought the key was that we controlled the tempo in the second half,” Virgil said.

“They made the shots and we didn’t,” Bukoski said. “We couldn’t get over about a 6-point barrier.”

Bubnack led Stillman with 15 points and Aaron Palmer added 14.

- Andy Colber, rrstar.com