Oakland pulls away from Southern Utah to win Summit League opener

WITH AUTHORITY: Oakland's Will Hudson maneuvers around Southern Utah's Kyle Davis for a dunk to end the first half during the Golden Grizzlies' 81-65 triumph Thursday. Courtesy Photo.

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

ROCHESTER HILLS — The title defense of the Summit League championship has begun for Oakland University.

The Golden Grizzlies, who finished 17-1 in the regular season last winter — the best-ever mark in league history — opened up league play right where it left off last season. Oakland used its depth and athleticism to pull away from Southern Utah for an 81-65 victory.

“I thought (in the second half) that defensively we were very good,” said Oakland coach Greg Kampe. “This team is one of the few teams that has size and can rebound with us. This is one of the few teams that can match us.”

Oakland out-rebounded the Thunderbirds 35-31 for the game, and slowly pulled away in the second half.

“I thought that we just wore them down a little bit,” offered Kampe. “We have guys that like to get out and run and I thought we were able to that a little bit in the second half.”

Oakland (4-3, 3-0) opened up the second half with a 20-10 run, which gave them a 51-34 cushion with 12:24 left.

Southern Utah would not go away, closing to within 56-45 with 7:56 left on free throw by Matt Hodgson. Tyson Koehler was a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor at the point, but didn’t score again.

Senior center Keith Benson tightened down the paint and OU dominated inside down the stretch and the Thunderbirds were forced to chuck up shots from the perimeter.

Oakland senior guard Larry Wright responded with a dunk in traffic to push it back to 13 points (58-45) and kickstart a 13-2 run, where five different players scored and four different Grizzlies picked up assists for 69-48 lead at 5:07 to go.

A steal by Bass 71-52 with 3:38 left and Hamilton’s pair from the charity stripe with 3:32 remaining upped the lead to 73-52, while a lay-up by Will Hudson with 1:51 left gave Oakland (4-3, 1-0) its biggest lead of 23 points.

“I thought our defensive pressure really wore them out,” said Kampe. “That was the key for us to win the game.

“We know that teams will try to keep guys in the (paint) to try to slow down Benson, and that opens up the perimeter,” said Kampe. “I think we can shoot pretty good from the outside. When teams (sag) inside we can beat them (on the) outside.”

Redshirt junior Reggie Hamilton, despite six turnovers, scored 19 with seven assists for Oakland. Benson added 19 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots, Drew Valentine had a season-high 12 with seven assists and Hudson picked 11 points, eight rebounds and three steals for the Grizzlies.

Oakland led 31-24 at the break, thanks to a 9-0 run to end the half. Reggie Hamilton had five points and an assist in that spurt while Valentine’s fee inside for a Hudson dunk to end the half capped the run.

Southern Utah (2-6, 0-1) closed to within five points on Ramell Taylor’s jumper with 18:10 left, but that as close the Thunderbirds would get the rest of the night.

In the first half, Southern Utah traded punches with the Grizzlies. The Thunderbirds clawed back from a 19-12 deficit with an 8-0 run, which ended with a jumper by Ray Jones. Kyle Davis’ long-range jumper with 2:45 left in the half gave Southern Utah its last lead at 24.22.

Jones’ 13 points led three Thunderbirds in double figures. Ryan Brimley nailed a trio of three pointers in the final 1:30 and finished with 12 points, while Koehler also scored 12.

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Tags: men's college basketball, oakland basketball, summit league

Category: Oakland University