Dec. 27, 2008

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AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Sophomore Keith Benson scored a game-high 20 points, senior Erik Kangas added 15 points, and junior Johnathon Jones had 10 points and nine assists, but No. 11 Michigan State (9-2) was too much on the glass, out-rebounding Oakland (8-7) 38-22 to defeat the Golden Grizzlies, 82-66, at the Palace of Auburn Hills on Saturday.

"I'm pretty disappointed in the way the game ended," said OU coach Greg Kampe. "It was 26-26 with a few minutes to go in the half, and we had a freshman drive the ball and try to make a spectacular play, which led to a turnover and a layup. We made some bad decisions defensively where we let the ball get into the middle of the defense, the middle of the zone, which is designed to keep the ball out of the middle and make them shoot outside shots. They got the ball in the middle, and made kick passes, and then we can't guard that."

The Spartans had 12 second chance points in the game and outscored the Grizzlies' bench 27-18. OU shot 44 percent (22-50) for the game, while MSU shot 55 percent from long range (11-20) and 52 percent for the game (32-62).

The Spartans began the game on a 9-0 run, but the Golden Grizzlies responded with a 15-0 run of their own to take an early 15-9 lead with 12:43 left in the first half. The Spartans countered with another run, this time 11-0, but OU came back again with a 9-4 run to tie the game once again, 24-24, with 7:12 remaining.

There would be two more ties in the half before the Spartans drilled three 3-pointers on three straight possessions to take a commanding 14-point lead at the break, 44-30.

That separation proved to be too much for the Golden Grizzlies in the second half, falling down by as many as 24 points with just over four minutes to go in the game. OU made one last push with a five-point swing on freshman Blake Cushingberry's 3-pointer and a foul under the basket on Benson in which he converted on both free throws to make it 19 points as the Grizzlies, but Oakland could not make a big surge outscoring the Spartans 12-4 down the stretch.

Four players were in double figures for the Spartans with senior Goran Suton leading the way with 16 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore Kalin Lucas added 15 points and six assists, while senior Travis Walton had 14 points and sophomore Darrell Summers scored 10.

"The most important thing for our team, as it is for Michigan State, is to win the league," said Kampe. We open our league next week and we want to get Derick Nelson ready to play. I knew it might not be good for him to do it, but we did it anyway. You can criticize me for that, or be mad at me for that, but I'm thinking about the future and what we've got ahead of us, so I decided to start him and get him a few minutes. Obviously it was a struggle for him."

The Golden Grizzlies will dip back into Summit League action on New Year's Eve, hosting South Dakota State at 4 p.m. in the Athletics Center O'Rena. Oakland is 2-0 inside the O'Rena this season and has a four-game winning streak dating back to last year.

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