Box Score Corpus Christi, Texas - Mike Helms (Detroit, Mich.) exploded for 43 points here tonight to lead Oakland University to a 91-88 win over Texas Southern in men???s basketball action at the Flint Hills Resources Islander Classic. Oakland???s win puts it in the final tomorrow night against either Morgan State or host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Helms??? 43 points are the most ever scored by a player at Memorial Coliseum and the second highest scoring game of his career. Oakland improved to 5-3 on the year while Texas Southern fell to 2-5. If you like offense, then the first half was one for you. Kelly Williams (Detroit, Mich.) opened the scoring with a trey on the Golden Grizzlies opening possession and the offensive flood gates opened from there. OU jumped out 5-0 lead, but Texas Southern recovered and stayed with Oakland for most of the half. Defense did not seem to be on the minds of either team, as Oakland blistered the nets for a 73 percent field goal percentage, with Texas Southern not far behind at 64 percent in the first 20 minutes. Oakland managed to push its lead to 10 points at 25-15 on a Helms lay-up at the 12:33 mark, but the Tigers came back, taking the lead on a three pointer by Donald Hogan that gave Texas Southern a 41-40 edge with 3:30 left in the half. A jumper by Rawle Marshall (Detroit, Mich.) quickly gave the Golden Grizzlies the lead back and Oakland went on to outscore the Tigers 9-2 to take a 51-44 lead at the half. Helms led the offensive onslaught in the first half, hitting 11 of his 13 field goal attempts and totaling 26 points. Texas Southern???s Allen Lovett was almost as good, netting 17 points for the Tigers. Turnover trouble cost the Golden Grizzlies early in the second half, as they committed four consecutive miscues that allowed Texas Southern back into the game. A lay-up by Lovett brought the Tigers within one at 55-54 three minutes into the half before Oakland responded and bumped its lead back up to eight on a steal and dunk by Marshall with 15 minutes to play. Led by Lovett, Texas Southern again came back and took a 74-73 lead at the eight-minute mark on a Lovett lay-up. The two teams then saw the lead change hands five times over the next three minutes until Oakland got the advantage back for good when Williams sank a three-pointer to put OU up 83-81 with five minutes to play. The Tigers crept back to within one at 89-88 on a trey by Marquel Timmons with 47 seconds left, but Helms put in the final points of the game on a jumper with 15 ticks on the clock and the Golden Grizzlies hung on for the win. Helms finished the night hitting 17 of his 22 attempts from the field, including going 6-for-9 from three point range. Marshall added 21 points and seven rebounds, while Cortney Scott (Lansing, Mich.) added 14 points and seven boards. Lovett finished with 35 points and five rebounds for Texas Southern, with Timmons and RaKim Hollis adding 13 and 12 points. For the game Oakland shot an impressive 69.1 percent from the floor, with Texas Southern also shooting well, hitting on 52.4 percent of its shots.