Box Score Valparaiso, Ind. (Jan. 11, 2007) ???C It was a long time coming for the Oakland men???s basketball team, but in its last visit to Valparaiso for a Mid-Continent Conference game the Golden Grizzlies used some sharp shooting from the free throw line to carry them to an 81-76 win. Shawn Hopes (Detroit, Mich.) and Vova Severovas (Vilnius, Lithuania) hit for 22 and 21 points to lead Oakland to its first win at Valpo in nine tries and remain undefeated in conference action. Valparaiso (6-10, 1-2 Mid-Con) took a quick 4-2 lead in the game, but Oakland came back with a trey from Erik Kangas (DeWitt, Mich.) and a jumper in the lane by Johnathon Jones (Okemos, Mich.) to take a 7-4 advantage four minutes in. The Golden Grizzlies made it 9-4 on a Hopes jumper, but Valparaiso came back with an 11-0 run, getting three-point plays from Urule Igbavboa and Jake Diebler, taking a six-point lead at the 12:52 mark. In a slow paced first half Oakland (9-9, 2-0 Mid-Con) slowly worked the Crusader advantage down over the next several minutes, getting it down to just two after Hopes hit a jumper with 8:30 left to make it 17-15. Still trailing by two with six minutes left, Oakland went cold from the field, not scoring for three and a half minutes while Valpo took advantage to push its lead out to 28-17 in that span. Jones stopped the Valpo run with a baseline jumper before Kangas hit consecutive long-range shots in the final two minutes to bring OU back to within three at 28-25 with 47 seconds left in the half. The two teams then traded baskets in the final seconds and the Valpo lead remained three at 30-27 when the teams left for halftime. Oakland started the second half with its best run of the game, out scoring Valpo 9-2. Severovas scored seven of the points as the Golden Grizzlies took a 36-32 lead three and a half minutes in. The Crusaders got a pair of three-point shots to halt the OU hot streak and when Severovas hit a free throw at the 14:28 mark, the game was tied at 40-all. From there the game remained close, with Oakland holding the lead over the next seven minutes. The Golden Grizzlies got their advantage up by as much as five, but a pair of three-point shots by Samuel Haanpaa kept the Crusaders close, with his shot at the 8:33 mark making it a 52-50 game in OU???s favor. The two teams went at each other down the stretch, going blow for blow with the Golden Grizzlies hanging on to their slim lead until a shot from Igbavboa gave Valpo a 66-65 lead with 3:21 left. From there it came down to the final minute. Kangas hit a big three-point shot with a man all over him with 42.8 seconds left, a shot that put OU up for good, 74-72. After that it came down to free throws as Oakland hit seven of eight over the final few seconds to prevent the Crusaders from ever finding the equalizer.