Nate Bittle used every bit of his 7-foot frame to throw down a putback dunk with 4.4 seconds left and the Oregon Ducks held on to beat No. 9 Alabama, 83-81, and win the Players Era Festival championship Saturday night in Las Vegas.

Keeshawn Barthelemy led the way for Oregon with 22 points, shooting 7 of 11 and drilling 4 of 5 3-pointers as the Ducks pulled off the thrilling men’s basketball victory.

Bittle, a former Crater High standout, finished with 19 points and nine rebounds for Oregon (8-0), which won despite seeing a six-point lead evaporate in the final minute.

Oregon went up 81-75 after Barthelemy hit two free throws with 31 seconds left.

After Alabama’s Aden Holloway answered with a 3-pointer, the Crimson Tide’s Mark Sears got a steal and was fouled by Oregon’s Brandon Angel. Sears made the first free throw and missed the second, but Alabama’s Mouhamed Dioubate grabbed the rebound and the Ducks fouled him. Dioubate made both free throws to tie it at 81-81 with 19 seconds to go.

On the Ducks’ ensuing possession, Barthelemy’s running jumper rolled off the backboard and rim, but Bittle was there to dunk it after crashing the boards from the left side of the rim. Alabama’s successful final attempt came after the buzzer and was waved off.

Barthelemy added four rebounds, four assists and two steals, while TJ Bamba had 12 points and Supreme Cook scored 11.

Labaron Philon scored 15 points for the Crimson Tide (6-2), who had five players finish in double figures.

TAKEAWAYS

Alabama: The Crimson Tide made 12 of 38 3-pointers to keep the game close.

Oregon: By winning the tournament, the Ducks received an extra $500,000 in NIL money to go along with the $1 million guaranteed for each team in the field. The Crimson Tide earned an extra $250,000 for finishing second.

KEY MOMENT

Oregon trailed 74-70 with 3:50 left in the game when Barthelemy forced a foul and made two free throws to cut the lead to two. That started a run in which the Ducks outscored the Crimson Tide 12-1 to take the 81-75 lead.

KEY STAT

The Crimson Tide had 13 turnovers compared to only seven by the Ducks. Oregon scored 17 points off the turnovers.