Last Thursday, Jan. 9, the Oakland men’s basketball team took to the road to face the Wright State (WSU) Raiders in Fairborn, Ohio. The Golden Grizzlies were looking to get back in the win column after a disappointing home loss to Robert Morris on Jan. 4. Unfortunately, despite a large first-half lead, OU couldn’t pull out the road win, losing 66-62.
After defeating the Raiders in their first meeting back on Dec. 5, the game plan remained largely the same. It starts with limiting good looks for Wright State’s best players, Brandon Noel and Alex Huibregtse. OU did a fantastic job containing Noel (18.6 points per game) in their first meeting, as he only scored 6 points on 2-11 shooting. He was also largely ineffective in the second matchup last Thursday, only going for eight points in the game with three turnovers.
It was a different story in the first game against Huibregtse. The knockdown shooter went 4-8 from three and had 12 points. Oakland did a better job with him in the second game, holding him to 11 points with only two made threes. Wright State as a team shot tremendously better in the first game (16-31 on threes) compared to 7-23 in the second game.
Thursday’s game opened fast with two Isaiah Jones buckets, one a jumper and the other a tip-in. After some bucket trading, Oakland manufactured a 10-0 run behind two baskets from Buru Naivalarua. Sophomore point guard Jaylen Jones hit two free throws to bring the game to a 19-7 Oakland lead.
The Raiders’ offense started to get rolling behind their all-conference big man, Noel. He got to the free throw line for two points and scored a layup, jumpstarting Wright State’s scoring. WSU’s Jack Doumbia started to get hot, hitting a jumper and finding his way to the rim. Despite their efforts, Oakland maintained a 10-point lead with less than four minutes to go in the first half.
Andrea Holden of the Raiders scored two baskets quickly, followed by a Huibregtse layup that pulled Wright State within five at the half, down 28-23. Oakland would have to find greater success from the three-point line in the second half if they were going to pull out the win.
Right on cue, Malcolm Christie opened the half with a much-needed three. Unfortunately for the Golden Grizzlies, the Raiders started to find some gaps in their zone defense, drilling a trio of threes within the first six minutes of the second half. Thanks to two Naivalurua layups and a DQ Cole three, Oakland extended their lead to 40-34.
Holden again stepped up big for Wright State, scoring seven points in about three minutes. If it weren’t for an Isaiah Jones three, Oakland would’ve been down instead of tied at 43 apiece at the under-12 media timeout.
The Golden Grizzlies earned some minor breathing room after a Cooper Craggs layup and three-pointer. Jayson Woodrich hit his own shot to give OU a slight cushion. Sharpshooter Keaton Norris of WSU got loose for a three before Jack Doumbia again got to the rim for a layup, tying the game at 50 with 7:30 left.
Both teams traded buckets down the stretch, with neither team gaining a lead larger than three points. A critical foul by Jaylen Jones sent Huibregtse to the line with 1:30 left, where he calmly drained all three shots to go up 61-58. Oakland tied the game with a Naivalarua and-one basket before Doumbia reclaimed the lead with a jump shot.
With half a minute left to tie or win the game, OU ran a play to senior Allen Mukeba, who missed a layup. Naivalarua was there for the putback but was fouled and got sent to the line to shoot two. He missed the first and hit the second, forcing Oakland to send Noel to the line to shoot.
Noel split his attempts, giving the Golden Grizzlies six seconds to draw up a play and win the game. Down 64-62 and coming out of a timeout, OU’s Woodrich turned the ball over, leading to two free throws for Norris that iced the game.
There were some concerning statistics in the game, as well. Oakland managed only five assists; teams that struggle with offense generally have very low assist numbers because the ball isn’t flying around for high-quality shots. They also let up 11 offensive rebounds to Wright State and committed 14 turnovers.
Oakland will next face the IU Indy Jaguars on Wednesday, Jan. 15, at the OU Credit Union O’Rena.