After losing four in a row, there were fair questions about whether or not Oakland would just lay down and give up or not. Maybe losing every single game was never going to happen, but many questioned if the team that had looked so talented would show up at all the rest of the season.
Well, the Golden Grizzlies are off the mat, and have secured two double digit wins in a row.
That’s called a winning streak.
Oakland went on the road and beat IU Indy 86-74 on Wednesday night. Oakland moved to 12-7 in league play with the win, and clinched a home game in the first round of the Horizon League Tournament.
“For the first seven or eight minutes of this game we really played good basketball”, Greg Kampe said postgame. “We guarded really well, we guarded with physicality and energy. They killed us at our place and that just wasn’t going to happen again.”
It was revenge enacted as IU Indy beat the Golden Grizzlies 103-85 in January, a result that shocked everyone. Tonight, Oakland came out on fire, a sign that that game had an impact. Oakland scored on their first six possessions of the game, racing to a 15-5 lead at the first media timeout.
Throughout the remainder of the game, the lead did not drop below eight points, and ballooned up to 24 late in the second half.
Brody Robinson made a late statement in the Horizon League player of the year race, scoring 19 points and dishing out 13 assists to extend his league lead in that category.
“Brody was just phenomenal against the press. They had to get out of it otherwise he might have had 25 assists,” Kampe said.
Buru Naivalurua added 16 points, including a big first half that set the tone for the win.
Perhaps the biggest encapsulation of the difference between this game and the previous encounter between these two teams was the play of Ziare Wells and Warren Marshall IV. Both forwards were flying around on both sides of the floor. They were active defensively, they got run outs and dunks and they looked physically dominant. It was Marshall’s best collegiate game, as he had 12 points, four rebounds and two steals on 6-of-7 from the floor in 22 minutes. Wells had 14 points and 6 rebounds to go along with an eye popping six steals.
“We flew through passing lanes tonight. The ball didn’t get into the middle of the zone like it did last time,” Kampe said.
Michael Houge and Isaac Garrett looked closer to what we became accustomed to seeing them as well. Garrett had nine points and nine rebounds in only 24 minutes while Houge scored 10 points.
Oakland now sets their attention to rival Detroit Mercy in the regular season finale. It will be senior day inside the Orena on Saturday. Tip off is slated for 3pm Eastern Time.
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