Southern Utah shocks Oakland in Summit League quarterfinals
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Southern Utah solved a mystery Sunday night that no team has been able to solve the past two years: Defeat Oakland University in the Summit League men’s basketball tournament.
The sixth-seeded thunderbirds rallied back from an 81-70 deficit in the final three minutes to claim a 84-82 upset of the two-time defending tournament champion Golden Grizzlies at Sioux Falls Arena.
Oakland (17-15) was paced by Reggie Hamilton, who bowed out of his collegiate career with 31 points but was way off the mark with his game-winning attempt at the final buzzer.
The Golden Grizzlies were moments from advancing to their sixth straight semifinal round up 11 points with 3:13 remaining in the game. Oakland went ice cold after that point.
Southern Utah, which is bolting for the Big Sky Conference this July, outscored OU 14-1 down the stretch to keep their postseason hopes alive.
Oakland’s Hamilton missed three free throws and had a turnover, while Travis Bader misfired wildly from outside the arc as part of the Grizzlies’ collapse down the stretch. Southern Utah’s Damon Heuir drilled a 3-pointer to tie the game at 82-82 with 34 seconds left.
Jackson Stevenett, who finished with a team-high 26 points for the Thunderbirds, swished a free throw with 2.4 second left to cap the scoring an southern Utah’s improbable 14-1 game-closing run.
Bader knocked down 6-of-10 three-pointers and added 24 points for Oakland, which didn’t have any other players reach double figures. Drew Valentine scored eight with 11 rebounds for OU.
Heuir scored 23 points, Wade Collie chipped in with 14 points and Matt Massey twined nine points for Southern Utah, which finished 58.2 percent from the floor (32-for-55).
Oakland, which finished a Summit League record 15-for-27 from outside the three-point arc, led 74-62 with 7:06 to go following a jumper from Valentine but could only muster nine more points the rest of the way, including just one point in the final three minutes.
Overall, the Grizzlies shot 51.1 percent on the night (25-for-51), but sank five more threes than two-point buckets.
Southern Utah, which started with a 21-10 spurt, led 43-40 at the break.
Category: Campus Clips, Colleges / Other, Oakland University
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