Oakland pulls away from Rochester College

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

Dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

ROCHESTER HILLS — This game had trap game written all over it.

Oakland University, coming off a two-week stretch which included was 1-1 record against BCS power conference schools Tennessee and Michigan and a 4-2 overall mark, hosted its annual cross-town rivalry game with neighboring Rochester College Tuesday.

The Golden Grizzlies nearly had their paws caught in such a trap before puling away for a 77-62 non-conference men’s basketball victory over the Warriors.

“I have been around a long time and I learned a long time ago that al wins are good,” said Oakland coach Greg Kampe. “I would like to credit Rochester College with an outstanding basketball game. To come in here and do the things they did, I think you have to pat Klint Pleasant on the back and as he did an outstanding job (with his team).”

Rochester College was playing its fourth of five Division I schools in a five-week span and have also scheduled games against NCAA Division II and Division IIII schools. The Warriors, ranked No. 1 in the nation by the United States Collegiate Athletic Association, appeared to be no pushover.

The Warriors, despite 21 turnovers, were only rebounded 39-31 and finished the night 22-for-53 from the floor (41.5 percent). Rochester College held Oakland to only 44.4 percent shooting (28-for-63).

“This game will help us. That’s why we scheduled this many games against Division I schools,” offered Pleasant, who is in his first season with the Warriors. “When we get to the national tournament, we won’t see any teams better than the likes of Oakland.”

LOOKING FOR THE OPEN MAN: Rochester College's Dramell Hogan fires this pass during Tuesday's game with Oakland University. Photo | Larry McKee, www.lmckeephotography.com

Rochester College (9-5) stayed within striking distance until the final four minutes and kept the game within 10 points for most of the first 32 minutes.

Four players reached doubles figures for Oakland, which only played eight players with the temporary loss of guard Ryan Bass and Blake Cushingberry. Laval Lucas-Perry scored 23 points with eight points for OU, while Drew Valentine had 20 points and a career-high 15 points, Reggie Hamilton scored 14 and Corey Petros had 13 points for the Grizzlies.

“We definitely viewed this as a game that could give us some trouble,” said Valentine. “As coach said this was this team was going to be good and the best (Rochester College) team that they’ve had in 28 years. It’s tough coming off a game like Michigan, playing in front of 17 thousand people at the Palace to coming here when the crowd wasn’t very big. It’s just tough going from those conditions to this.”

Kampe felt his team didn’t play at its normal level.

“I thought they played harder than we did. I thought they played smarter than we did. Unfortunately for them and fortunately for us, the score went our way,” said Kampe. “I told Klint at a clinic earlier this year that I thought that this is one of the best Rochester College teams that I’ve seen in 28 years. I think he’s going to have a wonderful season with them.”

Oakland overcame a cold-shooting night from Travis Bader. The sophomore guard, amongst the nation’s top three-point shooting threats, only converted an early dunk for two points, the first time in his collegiate career that he didn’t hit at least one triple.

Oakland (7-4) shot a 48.1 in the first half (15-for-31), but that was after a slow start which saw the Grizzlies begin the game 1-for-5 from the floor.

Rochester College opened the contest with an 8-2 spurt and eventually held leads of 14-6 and 19-13 before Oakland went on a 29-18 run to close the half. The Warriors nailed five of its first eight three-point attempts, those coming in the opening 6:59 of the contest, to account for their early leads.

Oakland took its first lead at 11:10 left in the first half, when Lucas-Perry converted a lay-up. That was followed by a jumper from Dante Williams for a 25-21 advantage with 9:46 to play.

OU could never increase the lead to more than six points the rest of the first half, going in the locker room with only a 41-37 lead.

In the second half, the Grizzlies slowly pulled away. Thanks to a 9-2 run, Oakland opened up a 56-45 with 9:54 left in the game. Rochester College did not close the gap down to less than eight points the rest of the way.

Oakland outscored the Warriors 21-17 after that point, with its biggest lead being 16 points (71-55) with 3:25 to go.

“I thought we did a great job handling the things that we could do,” offered Pleasant. “I thought we did a god job executing our offensive and defensive game plans. Oakland is a very god team and I think they eventually took over (down the stretch). But we did a great job competing against them.”

Dramel Hogan scored 25 with 10 rebounds to pace Rochester College. Brad Norman added 19 points for the Warriors, who had only six players reach the scoring column.

Rochester College finished 8-0for-026 from outside the arc (30.8 percent).

Tags: Basketball. Men's Basketball, college men's basketball, featured, Oakland University men's basketball, Rochester College Men's Basketball

Category: Campus Clips, Colleges / Other, Oakland University, Rochester College