OU Edged by Vikings

From The Oakland Press

Heartbreak Hotel was in Cleveland for Oakland’s men’s basketball team Saturday night. The Grizzlies led nearly the entire game and by as many 12, but couldn’t hold on. Oakland had a chance to force overtime, but a contested Johnathon Jones 3-pointer at the buzzer was no good.

“We’re disappointed we lost the game,” Oakland coach Greg Kampe said. “I was pleased with our team and it came down to a stretch in the second half when we didn’t get quality possessions and couldn’t extend the lead. They made some good, athletic plays on defense. We played pretty good and I like our defense. … We came in and competed against a good team in their gym, in front of their fans. And this is a learning curve and will make us a better basketball team.” The Golden Grizzlies also had to adjust to playing without leading scorer and rebounder Derick Nelson, who broke his foot in practice Thursday. The loss of Nelson hurt enough by itself, but also threw the team off because they only had one day to prepare.

Sophomore Keith Benson (Birmingham Detroit Country Day) led Oakland with 15 points and 11 rebounds and four blocks.

“We didn’t get him the ball enough.” Kampe said of Benson. “We got to get him the ball more. He still has to play in spurts though. He’s still just a sophomore, but he’s got to get stronger. He’s gotten way stronger than he was, but he still can’t play more than four or five minutes at a time. He gets winded. He’s 6-foot-11 and he’s got 10-foot long arms. That’s part of the maturing process.”

Erik Kangas added 11 points, Dan Waterstradt added seven points and six rebounds, Will Hudson finished with six points and six rebounds and Drew Maynard (Lake Orion) scored seven points in his Oakland debut before fouling out with 9:07 left.

The biggest surprise was Jones’ struggling offensively for Oakland. He finished 2-for-16 from the field with eight points, six rebounds and six turnovers in 38 minutes.

Oakland came out with a purpose and jumped out to a 17-7 lead highlighted by two Kangas 3-pointers and four quick points from Benson to start the game. The Grizzlies weathered the storm in the second half, but struggled to score down the stretch, scoring just five points in the final 6:30.