Oakland escapes scare from Oral Roberts
BY SCOTT MACDONALD
Oakland Sports Information Director
ROCHESTER – Oakland received a scare Thursday, but the league winning streak remained intact.
The Golden Grizzlies have now won 25 straight league games in the O’Rena and extended their Summit League regular season streak to 18 games with a 88-85 victory Thursday over Oral Roberts.
Senior Will Hudson, junior Reggie Hamilton and senior Keith Benson all scored over 20 points in leading Oakland (15-8, 10-0) to the narrow win at the O’Rena.
“Our culture won this game tonight,” said Oakland coach Greg Kampe. “Oral Roberts probably deserved to win the game, but we won tonight because of our fans and because of the environment. We’ve built a bit of a monster here and it really helped us win the game.”
Hudson tied a career high with 22 points and finished with a team-high 11 rebounds. Hamilton had 21 points, eight assists and a career-high six steals , and for good measure made four free throws inside the final 15 minutes of play.
Benson finished with 20 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots, while freshman Travis Bader with 15 points and sophomore Drew Valentine finished with 10 points. Senior Larry Wright made his first start in six games, but was injured almost four minutes in to the game and did not return.
Dominique Morrison tallied a game-high 24 points, including 9-of-10 from the free-throw line, for Oral Roberts University (9-13, 6-4). Damen Bell-Holter recorded a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds, Ken Holdman added 15 points and Warren Niles scored 15 points for the Golden Eagles..
The Golden Grizzlies led by as many as nine points in the first half, but the Golden Eagles held their own in the paint 24-22 and tallied 10 second chance baskets as Oakland led by just two points, 41-39, at halftime. ORU held a 21-16 advantage on the glass, including eight offensive rebounds.
With the score tied late in the game, Hamilton knocked down a 3-pointer and Valentine finished an old-fashion three-point play after a Benson block as the Golden Grizzlies went up by six points, 74-68, with 3:30 remaining in the game.
After a pair of ORU free throws, the Golden Grizzlies scored the next five points to push the lead back to nine points, 79-70, with 2:10 left. The Golden Eagles got within three points, 83-80, after a Holdman 3-pointer. Bader was then fouled and missed the first, but converted the second to push the lead back to four, 84-80 (27 seconds).
ORU’s Morrison was fouled at the other end and made both free throws to bring the score down to two, but Hamilton was fouled and made both free throws as the lead went back to five, 86-82, with 14 seconds left. Niles then made a 3-pointer for the Golden Eagles to get them within one, 86-85, with seven ticks remaining.
Hamilton was again fouled and drained both free throws to extend the lead to three with 5.6 seconds left and the Golden Grizzlies called a quick timeout. OU then pressed Oral Roberts to help burn off some time on the clock and the Golden Eagles’ Hunter McClintock was forced to throw up a one-handed shot from behind the half-court line that barely reached the out-of-bounds line as the Grizzlies held on for the victory.
OU will host Centenary for Homecoming on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Category: Oakland University
