On December 2, Purdue Fort Wayne (PFW) came into the OU Credit Union O’rena and absolutely ran the Grizzlies off their home floor, 98-77. It was a stinging loss, one that left a bitter taste in the mouths of those on the team.
It is said that revenge is a dish best served cold. Oakland had to wait more than two whole months, but revenge was finally served.
On Valentine’s Day, Jack Gohlke and the Golden Grizzlies beat the Mastodons on their court, 71-63. Not only did they beat PFW, but league-leading Green Bay lost to Northern Kentucky, bringing Oakland into a two-way tie with Green Bay for first place in the Horizon League. As an added bonus, both Blake Lampman and Rocket Watts reached 1,000 points in their collegiate careers.
First Half
The game started a bit rough for the Grizzlies with three turnovers, but Oakland held the lead at the first media timeout, 8-7. Oakland’s Gohlke hit two 3-pointers before the next media timeout to take a 15-10 lead. It took awhile for both offenses to figure it out with many turnovers and missed shots, but Chris Conway was able to knock down two jumpers before PFW’s Jalen Jackson hit a triple to bring it to 19-15 at the under-8 media timeout.
Finally, the offenses perked up. Mastodons guard Rasheed Bello hit his third jumper, followed by a second from Grizzly DQ Cole and jumpers by teammates Rocket Watts and Trey Townsend. Oakland commanded a 26-19 lead with four minutes to go in the first half.
With a chance to really open the game up, Oakland’s Lampman hit a jumper to go with a third Gohlke 3-pointer to take a dominant 12-point lead. Bello added another jumper, quickly followed by a heavily contested Gohlke triple that splashed home. PFW’s Anthony Roberts cut the lead to 10 on a last-second 3-pointer of his own. Oakland led 34-24 heading into the half.
Second Half
Oakland came out of the half with even more urgency. Gohlke hit his fifth triple of the game to go along with a Townsend layup. PFW sophomore Eric Mulder got a layup of his own and looked the part of a solid, developing big, except for his 2-6 day at the free throw line. He proved to be a good matchup for the Oakland bigs, posting 10 points and nine rebounds to go along with two steals and three blocks.
Just before the media timeout, it seemed like the Grizzlies were about to blow the game open with a Townsend dunk. But a miscommunication on defense gave up a wide-open Morton-Robertson 3-pointer for PFW, making it a 43-31 lead for Oakland.
What followed was an 18-2 run for Fort Wayne. Besides free throws from Gohlke and Townsend, Oakland would go scoreless for nearly eight minutes. This stretch saw the Grizzlies commit six of their 14 turnovers.
The run was fueled by Mulder and Bello. Mulder had five points in the stretch to go along with Bello’s two jumpers to take a 49-45 lead. The small crowd that was in attendance started to get into the game, and it appeared PFW might make a run to close the game out.
Everything hung in the balance until Lampman ended the scoring drought with a 3-pointer. DQ Cole added a triple of his own to retake a 51-49 lead. Moments like this have come all season, when it appeared that the Grizzlies would break and give in, only to show their collective discipline and resolve to power through. For a team that struggled to finish big games earlier against the likes of Ohio State and Illinois, the clutch gene was starting to show itself.
But a full seven minutes remained in the game. PFW quickly responded with two 3-pointers of their own to reclaim a 55-51 advantage before Oakland’s Conway made a layup. Jackson came up big yet again with another jumper before DQ Cole hit a big-time 3-pointer to bring the game within one before the final media timeout.
As the final three minutes began, Conway made a layup to go up a point. Gohlke was fouled on a 3-point attempt and went 2-3 at the free throw line. But the Mastodons would not go away as Bello hit yet another jump shot. Townsend scored a layup of his own, followed by a Jalen Jackson free throw. Oakland held a 62-60 advantage with a minute to go.
Now the clutch gene really shows itself. Gohlke rose up and nailed a contested 3-pointer to take a five-point lead that the Grizzlies would never give up. Gohlke, Watts and Lampman combined to go 6-6 at the free throw line at the end of the game — the 16 years of college basketball experience clearly showing.
Oakland would emerge with a gritty 71-63 victory. Gohlke led the way with 23 points, followed by 14 from DQ Cole, 12 from Conway and 11 from Townsend.
What’s Next?
Oakland hits the road one last time to take on the Robert Morris Colonials on Thursday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. The Grizzlies look to hold on to first place in the Horizon League as the season winds down and even possibly clinch an outright No. 1 seed over the Green Bay Phoenix.