Oakland seniors bow out at O’rena with 105-96 win over South Dakota State
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
ROCHESTER HILLS — Oakland University’s senior bowed out at the O’rena in style.
Keith Benson, Larry Wright and Will Hudson all made major contributions in leading the Golden Grizzlies to a 105-97 Summit League triumph over South Dakota State in front of over 3,900 hands at the O’rena — the final home game of the season for OU and the sixth largest crowd in school history for a men’s basketball game.
Wright finished with a co-team-high 22 points with nine rebounds for Oakland (19-9, 15-1), the outright Summit League champions for the second year in a row. Benson, the conference’s all-time leader in blocked shots, had 18 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks and Hudson chipped in with 17 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots.
Oakland’s senior have been part of perhaps Oakland’s best two-year run, as the Grizzlies are 32-2 in the regular season the past two years in the league with two road games still to play. Oakland was 17-1 in the league last season before winning three games in the conference tournament to reach the NCAA field.
Looking around the O’rena, flooded with fans searching for autographs after the game, left OU coach Greg Kampe smiling about what has transpired in recent years for Oakland basketball.
“I don’t think you can put into words what (these seniors) mean to the program,” offered Kampe. “You can’t get caught into the fact that we’ve won 29 straight (league games) here. But we’ve been very blessed. To have those kids come here — we owe them. You can’t sit here and think that this should happen. They worked really hard, they fought against all odds. I love these kids.
“You look at what (Johnathan Jones and Derick Nelson) did last year as seniors and what Keith, Larry and Will did this year. They have followed it up with a great work ethic and all of the things you’re supposed to do,” added Kampe.
Redshirt freshman Travis Bader, replaced in the starting lineup after going 0-for-9 from the field in a 71-69 win over North Dakota State on Thursday, returned to form as one of the league premier long-distance marksmen, going 6-of-10 from 3-point land and scoring 22 points to match Wright for team-high honors.
Junior guard Reggie Hamilton supplied 14 points and a career-high 11 assists to become the Grizzlies’ fifth player in double figures.
The game combined for eight players in doubles figures. Sophomore Nate Wolters finished with a game-high 29 points and six assists to pace the Jackrabbits, who stayed within striking distance until the final minute. Jordan Dykstra added 25 points, going 8-for-11 from the floor and Clint Sargent chipped in with 17 points, 10 rebounds and four assists from the post for South Dakota State (18-10, 10-7).
The pace of the game was blistering, as Oakland outscored the Jackrabbits 54-49 in the first half. SDSU’s biggest lead was six points at 36-30 on a lay-up from Chad White with 7:17 to go in the first half.
The Golden Grizzlies fought back and grabbed the lead for good when Drew Valentine converted a pair of free throws, giving the advantage back over to Oakland at 37-36 with 5:30 to play in the opening half.
Oakland led by as many as 12 points in the second half, when Hudson’s lay-up with 5:31 to go pushed the Grizzlies’ lead to 93-81. The Jackrabbits closed to within 99-94 and 101-96, the latter with 39 seconds left, but could get no closer as OU pushed its league winning streak inside the O’rena to 29 games.
“What we’ve created here is special,” said Kampe, whose team will close out with road games at UMKC and Southern Utah. “We had a lot of recruits here tonight and all were excited. We can’t thank these guys enough for what they have helped us create her at Oakland.”
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Category: Oakland University
