Box Score Cincinnati, Ohio (Nov. 16, 2003) ???C Mike Helms (Detroit, Mich.) and Rawle Marshall (Detroit, Mich.) combined for 52 points here tonight, leading Oakland to a 79-66 upset win over Illinois-Chicago in the semifinals of the Dell BCA Classic. Oakland, ranked No. 21 in the Mid-Major poll, improved to 2-0 on the season and will play in the championship game tomorrow night at 8 p.m. against the winner of the Mercer/Xavier matchup. UIC, ranked No. 3 in the Mid-Major poll, fell to 1-1 on the season. Oakland got off to a good start, taking a 7-2 lead on a basket by Kelly Williams (Detroit, Mich.) two minutes into the contest. Helms drew a pair of fouls and sank all four of his free throws to up the OU advantage to 11-4. Helms got in foul trouble later, however, picking up his third with 11:26 left in the half. Marshall stepped up and shouldered the scoring load for the Golden Girzzlies, scoring nine consecutive Oakland points shortly after Helms was forced to the bench. Oakland???s defense was doing the job on the Flames, holding them without a basket for nearly seven minutes in the middle of the half. When Marshall scored the last of his run of points, Oakland found itself with a 30-19 lead. Then it was Oakland???s turn to go cold, and UIC took advantage. The Golden Grizzlies could only manage one field goal in the last four minutes of the half while the Flames started to find the range with their shots. Sparked by a pair of Armond Williams, UIC outscored Oakland 10-1 to close the half and trailed by just one, 38-39, at the half. Another Williams field goal to start the second half gave UIC its first lead of the night and the game remained tight for the first five minutes of the half. The lead changed hands six times in that span, but when Helms canned a three-point shot at the 14:39 mark, his second of the half, he broke a 48-48 tie and Oakland never trailed again. A Marshall three-point play with 12 and a half minutes left gave OU a six-point, 54-48 advantage, but Illinois-Chicago got back in it, and a trey from Aaron Carr cut Oakland???s lead to one at 60-59 with 7:34 to play. Another Helms three-pointer put Oakland back up by four. Oakland???s defense stiffened in the final minutes, holding UIC to just two field goals in the final six minutes of the game to enable the Golden Grizzlies to go on to the victory. A pair of Shawn Hopes (Detroit, Mich.) free throws with two minutes to play gave Oakland a 73-63 lead and iced the game. Helms led all scorers with 27 points, adding four assists, a block and a steal to his totals. Marshall finished with 25 points, six rebounds and four steals for the Golden Grizzlies. Cortney Scott (Lansing, Mich.)chipped in his first double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Illinois-Chicago was led by Williams who hit 11 of 15 shots and finished with 23 points, a pair of blocks and four steals. Martell Bailey had 12 points and nine assists for the Flames.