Oakland downs IUPUI for 23rd straight home league win
UP FOR TWO: KEith Benson and his Oakland teammates movedto 5-0 inside Summit League play Thursday with a home win over IUPUI.
ROCHESTER – It was a career night for a pair of Oakalnd University players and yet another Summit League home win inside the comforts of the Athletics Center O’rena.
Junior Reggie Hamilton went 7-of-8 from three and scored a career-high 28 points, while freshman Travis Bader tallied a career-high 18 points on 5-of-8 long-range shooting, to lead Oakland University to an 85-71 victory over IUPUI to extend its Summit League winning streak to 13 on Thursday night.
“I’m happy with the way we played,” said OU coach Greg Kampe. “When teams take (Keith) Benson out of the equation, it seems like we find different ways to score every night. We’re averaging over 90 points a game in this building, and we feel like we can score with anybody.”
The Golden Grizzlies (10-8, 5-0) have won 23 straight league games at home and 16 straight games against league opponents. Oakland has won 30 consecutive league games when leading at halftime and shot a season-best 65 percent (15-for-23) from beyond the arc.
The only other player in double figures for the Grizzlies was sophomore Drew Valentine who finished with 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
“He is the one guy nobody is talking about,” said Kampe of Valentine’s play. “He’s improving every time he steps out on the floor. He is shooting the ball well, and Alex Young scored 18 points tonight, but he had to work for every one of them.”
Joining Young in double figures for the Jaguars was Leroy Nobles with 18 as well. Stephan Thomas tallied 14 points for IUPUI (8-9, 2-2).
The Golden Grizzlies stormed out to a 10-point lead, 21-11, over the first eight-plus minutes thanks to three triples by Hamilton. OU increased the lead all the way to 19 points with just over a minute to go and led 50-31 at halftime.
It looked like Oakland had the game in control in the second half with a 20-point lead, 67-47, with 12:18 remaining, but the Jaguars got within nine points, 74-65, by outscoring OU 18-7 over a five-minute stretch. Oakland seized control with an 8-0 run thanks to a 3-pointer by Hamilton and Benson as the Grizzlies pushed the lead all the way back to 21 points before winning by 14.
OU will host Western Illinois in Summit League action on Saturday at 6 p.m. inside the O’rena. The game can be followed on OUgrizzlies.com.
Category: Oakland University
