Jan. 17, 2009

Recap | Box Score | Notes

OAKLAND 93, IPFW 88
WAR MEMORIAL COLISEUM

HEAD COACH Greg Kampe

Opening Statement
"It's a good win for us. A game we had to have. If we wanted to stay in the race, we had to win this game. We stumbled twice and you can't do that on the road. Now we get to go home, the next two are at home, and if we take care of our homecourt then we are right back in this."

On Erik Kangas
"He really had it going tonight. What I like about it is he was really looking for it. We put a couple things in and he really liked the new things we put in. They hadn't seen that and I think that helped him get open early. It looked like everybody was getting tired, and that was some phenomenal shooting out there. Both teams were shooting the ball phenomenally. You look at that 3-point shooting and you just shake your head. He had it going and we needed it, because if he didn't we wouldn't of won."

On Will Hudson
"I thought it was his best game as an Oakland player in his two years here. He really did a nice job defensively on (David) Carson. (He) is a tough matchup, and without Derick Nelson we didn't have a guy who could guard him and Will did a great job."

On team effort
"I thought Blake Cushingberry made a few smart plays down the stretch for us too. JJ played his normal game. I'm just really pleased with the way we played offensively. Defensively, I don't know, I have to look at the tape. They made some difficult shots, but they made some easy ones too."

On reminding team about last time at IPFW and holding a lead
"Absolutely. We talked about last year. After the season we talked about it and thought we had leadership issues on the team. So we spent all our time this offseason talking about leadership. I said now is the time, we held an 11-point lead last year, and a double digit lead at our place, so let's see what happens."

On scoring five quick points on Kangas' three and (Drew) Maynard's steal and dunk
"Those are obviously huge plays in the game. In this game there were runs and we seemed to get it to 10 and we kept it there, but when they made that run we needed to run something and that's what seniors do. I was really pleased with Maynard's play. For him to make a defensive play and get us a layup was unusual for him. So it was good for him in order to prove how important that is."

On teams shooting well from three
"It's unbelievealbe. I have to scratch my head. It's game in and game out. We played zone, we played man, we contested threes and they just keep making them. Everybody we play keeps making them. It's unbelievable. It's frustrating, and we keep working on it, we keep trying to get better at it, so we'll see."

SENIOR GUARD Erik Kangas

On his performance
"I kind of had it going. It was one of those nights where the basket was big and everything out of my hand felt good. It was a much needed win. Coach told us it was up to the seniors to go out there and get it done and I'm a senior."

On missing the free throw and his shot at 40
"I kind of mad about it. I really wanted it, but a win is a win."

On the importance of this win
"They beat us twice last year. We wanted revenge and more importantly, we wanted to get back in the league race."

On Will Hudson
"He's been playing well the last three games. He had some nice finishes tonight, grabbed big offensive rebounds and made those two free throws at the end so that was good to see."

SOPHOMORE Will Hudson

On guarding David Carson
"He's a great player. When he catches on the wing he likes to face up. He's a big man with a guard mentality. We worked on denying him, keeping a hand on him, adn just trying to frustrate him. He's there offensive player and they are looking to get the ball in to him, so I was just trying to deny to take them out of their rhythm."

On the effort tonight
"Coach Tungate was here before, and last year we lost both games to them with leads at halftime. We talked in the locker room about blowing those leads and said we need to play together. If we keep playing that way, we will be fine."

On his offense
"Some of the plays were designed to get me and Kito (Keith Benson) the ball inside. As far as offensive rebounds, it's my job to score those easy points and go get those rebounds. Once you get those, it's either going to be a put back, or a kick out to an open shot from the outside."