Box Score The Oakland University men's basketball team traveled to Valparaiso, Indiana to face Valpo for first place in the Mid-Continent Conference tonight. The Golden Grizzlies trailed by as many as 18 points in the second half but made a late charge to get within three. Oakland couldn't come up with the tie and Valparaiso made its free throws in the final minute to foil Oakland's comeback, 79-72, in the Athletics-Recreation Center. Oakland falls to 16-12, 9-4 Mid-Con, while Valpo improves to 21-7, 11-2 in conference play. Valparaiso jumped out to a quick 7-3 lead on Oakland two minutes into the first half. The Golden Grizzlies came back to tie the game at 7-7 on a layup by Mike Helms (Detroit/Martin Luther King). Valpo went on a 11-0 run to lead OU 18-7 with 14:26 left until intermission. Oakland climbed back within six, 39-35, outscoring the Crusaders 28-21 over a 11-minute span. Oakland couldn't manage any more points before the half as Valparaiso ended the first half with a 9-0 run and led 48-35. The Crusaders grabbed their largest lead on the game at 18, 61-43 with 15:45 remaining in the game. The Golden Grizzlies kept plugging away as they got closer and closer throughout the second half. OU's Mychal Covington (Pontiac/Northern) cut the deficit to under double digits for the first time since the first half with a three-point play with 3:37 left in the game. After a Valparaiso basket, Brad Buddenborg (Garden City/Garden City) nailed a three-pointer to get Oakland within eight, 75-67, with just under three minutes to go in the game. After a defensive stop, Helms came up with another big three-pointer to get Oakland within five. The Golden Grizzlies' Jason Rozycki (Boyne City/Boyne City) was fouled on the defensive end and made both free throws to get OU within a basket, 75-72, with 1:31 remaining. Oakland came up with another stop and Helms was forced to take a 35-footer with two seconds on the shot clock and was off the mark. OU was forced to foul with 23 seconds left and Valpo's Jared Nunness made two free throws to extend their lead to five, 77-72. That would be the nail in the coffin for Oakland as Valpo made two more free throws and defeated OU, 79-72. Leading Oakland was Covington as he had a career-high 14 assists. He finished the game with a double-double scoring 10 points. Buddenborg scored a game-high 23 points for the Golden Grizzlies. Also in double figures was Dan Champagne (Linden/Linden) tallying 12 points and five rebounds, while Helms ended the game with 11 points and nine rebounds. Oakland will travel to Macomb, Illinois to end the regular season against Western Illinois. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Detroit at 12 noon EST.