Damaging loss for Cardinal — Ducks eke out 73-70 win

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Maples Pavilion was rocking with something awfully close to March Madness Sunday, but the crowd of 7,233 was left unrewarded.

In a game with 15 lead changes, Oregon handed Stanford a damaging 73-70 defeat.

The loss probably killed any chances the Cardinal (18-10, 9-7 Pac-12) had of getting an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The Ducks (22-8, 12-5) are still alive, and they can thank conference scoring leader Joseph Young and Elgin Cook, each of whom scored 21 points.

Chasson Randle had 17 points and Stefan Nastic 16 to lead Stanford on Senior Night. Marcus Allen added 14 points and Anthony Brown 11.

A three by Oregon’s Dwayne Benjamin tied it 66-66 with 3 ½ minutes left, and a thundering dunk by Jordan Bell put the Ducks in front 68-66 before Brown’s layup brought another tie with two minutes left.

Cook’s layup put Oregon up, but Nastic sank two free throws to tie it 70-70. Freshman Michael Humphrey stole the ball by Cook, but Randle returned the favor with a bad pass. Benjamin went in for a layup that would have given the Ducks a 72-70 lead but thee ball got stuck between the rim and the backboard. Benjamin was fouled and hit one of two free throws with 14 seconds left to put Oregon ahead by one.

Randle missed a jumper and Young hit two more free throws with 2.9 seconds left. Needing a three-pointer, Stanford couldn’t even connect on the inbound pass as time ran out.

Humphrey picked up his fourth foul and went to the bench with 16:19 left and didn’t come back for seven minutes.

Stanford rallied to tie the score 44-44 on a three-pointer by Randle and took a 47-44 lead on a three-point play by Nastic. But Cook pushed Oregon in front

Oregon’s Dillon Brooks dribbles against Stanford’s Anthony Brown during the second half of their game at Maples Pavilion. Brown scored 11 points in his last regular-season home game. Oregon’s Dillon Brooks dribbles against Stanford’s Anthony Brown during the second half of their game at Maples Pavilion. Brown scored 11 points in his last regular-season home game. Photo: Jeff Chiu / Associated Press Photo: Jeff Chiu / Associated Press Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Damaging loss for Cardinal — Ducks eke out 73-70 win 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

49-47. After Randle drive regained the lead 51-49, Cook hit again to tie it.

The game went back and forth to the end.

Stanford had trouble getting open looks in the first half against the Ducks’ zone. But the Cardinal led most of the first half before Oregon took a 30-29 lead on a Casey Benson floater, beginning an 8-0 run.

The Cardinal trailed 36-30 at the half, and one reason was that they made just one of five three-point attempts.

Young had 10 points in the half, helping the Ducks shoot 50 percent before the break.

In the opening minutes, freshman Humphrey helped Stanford build a 14-8 lead. He had seven points in the run, including an alley-oop dunk on a pass from Brown. He also blocked an Elgin Cook jumper.

After a couple of Oregon baskets, sophomore Marcus Allen hit back-to-back driving layups for an 18-13 lead.

Stanford’s Rosco Allen entered midway through the first half, his first appearance in five games because of a back injury.

Before the game, the final home game of the regular season, Stanford’s top three scorers -- Randle, Brown and Nastic --were honored for their careers, as were reserves Jack Ryan, Wade Morgan and Elliott Bullock.

Tom FitzGerald is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: tfitzgerald@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @tomgfitzgerald