Oakland advances to Summit League semifinals with rout of Southern Utah
MR. SUMMIT: Oakland University senior Keith Benson is one of many weapons on the Golden Grizzlies' roster and hopes to lead OU to the Summit League Tournament title this week. Courtesy Photo.
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Reggie Hamilton watched from the sidelines a year ago as Oakland University won both the regular season and Summit League Tournament champions en route to an NCAA berth. This time, he’s very much in the thick of it on the basketball court.
The junior transfer scored 23 points Saturday night, as Oakland opened up its title defense in the Summit League tourney with an 82-66 triumph over No 8 seed Southern Utah at the Sioux Falls Arena.
Top-seeded Oakland finished the night 53.6 percent from the floor with Hamilton leading the way with 23 points and four assists for the Grizzlies, who are a combined 34-2 the last two regular seasons in the conference. Hamilton reached double figures for the 15th time in his last 16 games as Oakland won its sixth in a row and 16th in the last 17.
“I am happy with the results. I am really pleased with the way we played. That is the greatest accomplishment is coming out with a win,” said Hamilton, who sat out last season after transferring from league rival UMKC. “I am pretty sure with every game everybody on the team is excited. I think tonight as we got into the game, the momentum kicked in and stayed with us for 40 minutes. I am pretty sure everybody is excited.”
Oakland (23-9) led 46-34 at the half and built a 28-point advantage in the second half.
The Golden Grizzlies, who have now won 16 of their last 17 games and have an RPI of 56th, advance to Monday’s semifinals for the fourth straight season. Oakland will play the winner of IPFW and South Dakota State in the semifinals.
Oakland landed four players in double figures, with Keith Benson, the two-time Summit League Player of the Year, adding 19 points, freshman Travis Bader following with 13 points and senior Larry Wright, voted as the league’s sixth man of the year, scored 11 for the Grizzlies.
Will Hudson added nine points and eight re bounds for Oakland.
“There is a reason we have done what we have done recently, over the past three years. They have bought into winning,” said Oakland coach Greg Kampe, who is trying to guide the Grizzlies to it third NCAA berth in seven seasons. “We have sold them on that. We don’t buy into number or stats; if Oakland plays good we win, if we don’t, we lose. No kid has bought more into that philosophy than Reggie Hamilton. When we beat Tennessee, he wasn’t on the floor during the final three minutes but the first kid to jump into someone’s arms at half court was Reggie Hamilton. That is the type of kids that we have and it is the reason we are successful.”
Jackson Stevenett led the Thunderbirds (11-19) with a game-high 24 points. Ray Jones had 13 points and Ramell Taylor scored 12.
Southern Utah coach Roger Reid knew his team faced a monumental task in beating the league’s most dominant team. The Thunderbirds shot 46.2 percent but made only two 3-pointers to Oakland’s eight.
“We played a great basketball team. They’ve got so many weapons,” noted Reid. “When they’re playing well, it’s tough to beat a team like that. We just played a team that shot the ball extremely well (53.6 percent for the game). They have so many weapons, when they’re clicking it’s tough to beat a team like that.
“(After losing to Oakland last week, we had a good week of practice and came in confident, but) you don’t beat a team like that unless they make some mistakes,” added Reid. “We came in here to win a basketball game. There’s three things you have to do. Number one is play great defense. It’s pretty tough with the strength they have inside. Number two you’ve got to rebound. We did that. (outrebounding Oakland 32-30) The third thing is execute offensively. We did that the first half. (shooting 54.5 percent).
“In the second half we were down and we hurried (on offense, shooting only 40 percent). We’re not going to see Benson any more, not going to see Hudson any more. That’s good. We just played a better basketball team. In all the leagues in America, they’ve got the best (league) record. Two losses (in league in two seasons).”
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Category: Oakland University
