Oakland men’s basketball went on the road this past weekend to take on the Northern Kentucky Norse at the Truist Center on Feb. 8. The Grizzlies were coming off a thorough victory over the Cleveland State Vikings, while the Norse were looking to snap a three-game losing skid.
Unfortunately, the game ended at 99-89 in overtime with an NKU victory.
First Half
Northern Kentucky won the tip and jumped to an early 7-5 lead at the first media timeout. Oakland committed three early turnovers, but a Blake Lampman 3-pointer and a Chris Conway dunk helped keep the Grizzlies from starting off too badly.
NKU’s Keeyan Itejere made two quick baskets out of the timeout, along with two Randall Pettus II jumpers. Coming off Horizon League Player of the Week honors, Lampman kept his hot shooting streak going with two more triples. The Norse went on to hold a 15-14 lead at the under 12-minute timeout.
The back and forth scoring continued with both teams exchanging blows. Trey Townsend began to make his presence felt with a layup and two free throws, along with a Jack Gohlke 3-pointer. But NKU continued to rain jumper after jumper, still holding a 25-23 advantage at the 6:19 mark left in the first half.
The Grizzlies would finally gain the upper hand with two Townsend jump shots and a deep DQ Cole 3-pointer. A major key in the game was Oakland’s dominance on the offensive glass, snagging nine offensive rebounds in the first half to NKU’s four. Oakland took a 30-27 lead with under four minutes to play in the first half.
Right out of the timeout, Coach Kampe drew up a play for Golhke to sink another triple. Oakland continued to find holes in the Norse zone defense for a Conway jumper and another Lampman 3-pointer. The lead had opened up to a 38-29 advantage, but two quick NKU 3s from leading scorer Marques Warrick and LJ Wells brought it back within three. Chris Conway’s dunk took the lead back to five points.
The Grizzlies could’ve taken that five-point lead to the half, but after a late steal by Rocket Watts, Watts immediately shot a half-court three with three seconds left on the clock. Coach Greg Kampe was irate by the mistake from the fifth-year senior. NKU inbounded it to Warrick, who drilled a 3-pointer to cut the lead to two going into the half.
Second Half
Both teams came out red-hot after halftime. Lampman and Townsend both hit two jumpers, followed by two NKU jumpers from Michael Bradley. Townsend again made two baskets, but the Norse matched him after each one. Gohlke hit another 3-pointer before Warrick made his way back to the charity stripe for two more free throws. The lead was 52-49 at the under-16 mark.
The two teams continued to trade baskets as Oakland failed to pull away. Just as they took a seven-point lead with two Lampman free throws, NKU rallied back with two jumpers. Lampman and company held on to a five-point lead under 12 minutes at 58-53.
This give-and-take would continue until the Grizzlies came upon a scoring drought from the 11:19 mark, a Buru Naivalurua layup, to a Chris Conway layup at the 7:49 mark. NKU didn’t do too much scoring of their own but cut the lead to just one point after making five free throws and a jumper. Oakland clung to a 61-60 lead at the under-eight-minute mark.
Out of the timeout, Oakland grabbed two offensive rebounds off missed 3s before a Conway layup. Coach Kampe called a timeout, attempting to rally his team to get some key stops to go on a run.
Once again, the two teams exploded offensively, draining jumpshot after jumpshot. Gohlke hit three 3-pointers, Lampman hit one of his own, and Conway added two buckets as well. But NKU could not be stopped. Finding hole after hole in Oakland’s zone, they continued to knock down big-time shots. The lead was only 77-73 for the Grizzlies.
Michael Bradley of NKU had the best game of his career, going for 26 points with eight assists. He and teammate Trey Robinson took over late in the game, as they scored seven points in the final four minutes. A late Townsend free throw brought the game to 80 apiece, but he couldn’t hit the second to take the lead. Both teams missed shots that could’ve won the game, sending it to overtime.
Overtime
Unfortunately for Oakland, the defense just could not get stops. NKU exploded for 19 points in overtime as their hot shooting continued, nailing three jumpers early in the period. A Gohlke triple brought the game back within three, but the Norse responded with a 7-0 run to ice the game.
Post Game
Oakland attempted 49 3-pointers in the game, with Gohlke going 7-20 and Lampman shooting 6-18. Their 49 attempts in one game were the most the Golden Grizzlies have attempted in a single game since at least the 2010-11 season.
The Grizzlies will face high-scoring Wright State next on Saturday, Feb. 10. They now sit one game behind league-leading Green Bay.