Jan. 22, 2009

Box Score | Quotes | Notes

ROCHESTER, Mich. - Senior Erik Kangas scored a game-high 33 points, going 8-for-11 from behind the arc, freshman Drew Maynard scored 15 points, and junior Johnathon Jones dished out a season-high 10 assists to go with nine points to lead Oakland University (12-9, 5-3) past IUPUI (9-10, 2-6), 75-57, in Summit League men's basketball action on Thursday night inside the Athletics Center O'Rena.

"That was a good win," said OU coach Greg Kampe. "(IUPUI) is a good team. They beat Seton Hall at Seton Hall, Arizona State was ranked in the top-20 and they had an 18-point lead on them at halftime, and lost in overtime. We have been there. We know what it's like. We knew that this was a huge game for them and we had to be ready for everything. I thought we defended very well. We made shots again, and we did a good job of making their shots as difficult as we could."

Sophomore Keith Benson tallied 10 rebounds, nine points and four blocks, while sophomore Will Hudson scored eight points to go with four rebounds.

The first half was tightly contested with eight lead changes over the opening five minutes. The Jaguars took their last lead of one, 10-9, at the 14:42 minute mark and the Golden Grizzlies responded with a 10-2 run that pushed the lead to seven, 19-12, with just over 10 minutes remaining. The Grizzlies kept their lead around seven points over the final minutes and led by seven at the half, 33-26.

The second half was a different story as OU scored 18 points off turnovers to spark an 18-6 run over the final six minutes to hold on to the victory. Kangas tallied 22 of his 33 points in the second tilt on 7-of-8 shooting, including going 5-for-6 from three.

Leading the Jaguars offensively was freshman Alex Young, finishing with 14 points. Senior Gary Patterson tallied 13 points, while junior Jon Avery ended the game with 12 points, eight rebounds and three steals.

Oakland won the battle of the glass with a slight 30-26 advantage, and outshot the Jags 51 percent (28-55) to 47 percent (24-51). The Golden Grizzlies improved to 9-0 this season when they shoot 40 percent or better from long range, finishing the game 12-for-23 (.522). OU also extended its home winning streak to seven games in the O'Rena and is now 9-1 when they lead at halftime.

Kangas is now 16-for-24 from 3-point range over the last two games and had back-to-back 30-point games for the first time in his career. The reigning Summit League Player of the Week moved into a tie for second place all-time in school history with 286 treys made, matching Brad Buddenborg (1998-2002). He needs just seven more long balls to set a new school record.

The Grizzlies will host Western Illinois (6-13, 3-5) on Saturday as part of a doubleheader. Game time is set for 6 p.m. and will air on OU's flagship station WDTW (1310 AM) with Mario Impemba and Tom Negoshian.

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