On Thanksgiving morning, the Oregon State Beavers (3-1) failed to hold on against the University of Duke Blue Devils (4-1) in the quarterfinal matchup of the Phil Knight Legacy Tournament. 

Led by guard Jordan Pope and forward Dexter Akanno, the Beavers zone defense provided much-needed difficulty for the No. 8 ranked Blue Devils, ending the game with a 54-51 final score in favor of Duke. 

Getting out to an early lead in the opening minutes of the game, the Beavers were successful in shooting the ball going 45.5% (38.5% 3-PT) from the field in the first half. 

The Blue Devils, led by guard Tyrese Proctor and star center Kyle Filipowski, scoured the boards racking up 10 offensive rebounds in the first half, providing second-chance points as Duke struggled to shoot the ball against the Beavers. 

Blue Devil guard Jeremy Roach sparked life into the Blue Devil offense, hitting an off-balanced three-pointer to give Duke the lead going into half making the score 27-29. 

In the second half, the Beavers found themselves in foul trouble down the stretch. 

Filipowski  went to work in the low-post and from the free-throw line ending with 19 points and 14 rebounds. 

Backup center, Ryan Young, took advantage of his many minutes in the second half achieving his career-high in rebounds. Young ended with 11 points and 15 rebounds for the Blue Devils.

With 1:14 remaining in the game, guard Dexter Akanno failed to convert at the free throw line as the Blue Devils led 50-49.  

Seconds later, guard Jacob Grandison capitalized on his trip to the line pushing Duke’s lead to three. 

In the final 16 seconds of the game, Pope and Taylor Jr. missed game-tying three-point attempts as the Oregon State Beavers fell to the Duke Blue Devils 54 -51 in a game that was not expected to be close, with Duke being favored to win by 22 points.

The leading scorers for the Beavers in this game were Pope (14 points), Akanno (12 points), and Dzmitry Ryuny (eight points).