Going into Sunday’s game against Milwaukee, Oakland had lost four straight games. A team that looked to be on its way to a guaranteed top two seed in the Horizon League Tournament found itself in a dog fight to secure a home game. That’s why, even though the opponent is lower in the standings, Sunday’s game felt important. It served as a chance to regain control of the wheel heading into the final week of the season.
The Golden Grizzlies are not all the way “back” after an 81-70 win over Milwaukee.
But they aren’t dead either.
“Everything that could go bad has,” Greg Kampe said postgame. “How many banked in shots have we seen an opponent make, loose balls that seem to go right to them. You can’t accept it, you have to just figure it out.’
Oakland took control of the game by the time the teams went into the locker room, leading 41-34. But the Golden Grizzlies lost the lead in less than three minutes, and had to battle for much of the second half to pull back in front. Oakland got down by as many as six, and trailed 61-58 with just over seven minutes to play.
“The last five or so minutes of games recently we have played like we are scared of losing,” Kampe said. “Tonight it felt like guys had just had enough. We got back into that situation and we made plays.”
An 8-0 run was capped off by a play that Kampe brought up in the postgame press conference.
“Brett made the play of the year when he dove on the floor and Warren got that dunk. The crowd just erupted and it felt like a big weight was just lifted off of our shoulders.”
Oakland moved back into a tie for second place with the win at 11-7 in the league. Oakland’s overall record is now back above the .500 mark at 15-14. With two games left, the Golden Grizzlies are two games back of Wright State for first.
“I’m pretty pleased right now because we saw these guys get out of it.,” Kampe said.
Buru Naivalurua posted 23 points, nine rebounds and four assists in the win. He shot 9-of-13 from the floor. He had been held in single digits the previous two games Oakland played.
“I haven’t been very aggressive recently and I made the decision to not have that happen tonight,” Naivalurua said. “The more impact I can have on a game with my aggression the better our team will be for it.”
Brody Robinson had his best game in a while too. He scored 20 and dished out nine assists. He shot 6-of-10 from the floor and 4-of-8 from three. 17 of those points came in the second half. Robinson playing like an all league first team player is what Oakland needs to achieve the dream of making the NCAA Tournament.
Ziare Wells scored 13, as he moved to the role of sixth man for [at least] the night. He made all three of his three point attempts after going 1-of-7 against Green Bay on Friday.
Warren Marshall IV added nine points off the bench and Brett White II made two threes and made some highlight defensive plays. Khoi Thurmon was also productive in his 11 minutes with two points and three assists.
Isaac Garrett and Michael Houge were each held to four points, and Oakland closed the game without either of them on the floor.
There were countless former players and staff members on hand, as Oakland men's basketball alumni were honored during a media timeout in the second half. It made for a special atmosphere in the O’Rena.
“This program and our fans are not used to seeing us lose four in a row in February, they aren’t used to seeing us lose three home games in a row,” Kampe said. “It would have been very easy to say ‘why would I spend my money and go see them.’ And they were here. That means the world to us, and me personally. That tradition of having 40 of my former players honored at a timeout on the floor means so much to me.”
Oakland plays its final regular season road game on the schedule at IU Indy on Wednesday.
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