COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL: Oakland pulls away from Detroit-Mercy for Metro Series sweep
BY DAN STICKRADT
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dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
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ROCHESTER HILLS — With the regular season conference championship out of reach, Oakland University still showed no mercy on one of its arch-rivals.
The oft-inconsistent Golden Grizzlies put the finishing touches on the series sweep of the University of Detroit-Mercy Friday night, downing the Titans, 87-78 at the Athletics Center Blacktop at the O’rena.
Injury-plagued Oakland — which has lost four rotation players for the season due to injuries — used a 49-33 second half to turn a seven-point halftime deficit into a nine-point victory.
Illinois transfer Kendrick Nunn finished with a game-high 28 points — he leads the nation 4.72 three-pointers per game — and canned five more triples on the night to lead Oakland.
Three other Golden Grizzlies finished with double figures. Senior forward Jalen Hayes added 19 points, senior guard Martel Walker chipped in with 16 points and senior backcourt running mate Nick Daniels followed with 11 points for the Grizzlies. Sophomore center Isaiah Brock had eight points and 10 rebounds for Oakland, which captured the Metro Series for the second time in three years.
“We’re playing for tomorrow,” said veteran Oakland coach Greg Kampe. “Maybe that’s not what people want to hear. But we only worry about tomorrow. We’ll worry about Youngstown State for Wednesday, then the next game after that. With all of our injuries, we’ll worry about the (conference) tournament once we get there.
“Beating Detroit is always nice. It’s important to the seniors,” continued Kampe, who is 8-2 against the Titans since the school went Division I two decades ago. “It still means something to win the Metro Series.”
Detroit-Mercy shot 10-of-16 (62.5 percent) from three-point range in the first half to erase an early 13-0 deficit. Five different Titans drained three-pointers in the first half, where Detroit built a 45-38 advantage.
Oakland held the Titans to only six three-point attempts in the second half.
“We got back to locker room and committed to defense,” said Kampe. “They were 0-for-6 (from three) in the second half. The six was crucial because we wanted to hold them to under 30 (attempts) and they had only 22. And them not making any three-pointers in the second half after draining 10 of them in the first half was big.”
The Titans also shut down Nunn in the first half, limiting the senior to seven points over the first 20 minutes after he scored 38 three earlier in the team’s first meeting. He scored 21 in the second half as OU pulled away.
Nunn’s jump-hook with 13:59 to play gave Oakland the lead for good at 55-53. Oakland outscored Detroit 32-25 after that point and the Grizzlies led by as many as 12 points (83-71) with 46 seconds to go in the ballgame.
Junior Kameron Chatman scored 13 of his team-high 23 points in the first half to lead Detroit (7-19, 3-10). Josh McFolley added 13 points, Corey Allen and DeShawndre Black both twined 11 points and Roschon Prince followed with 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds for UDM.
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