Feb. 5, 2009

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ROCHESTER, Mich. - Senior Erik Kangas scored a game-high 21 points, sophomore Keith Benson finished with his seventh double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds, and junior Johnathon Jones finished with a double-double with 17 points and a career-high 13 assists, to lead Oakland University (14-11, 7-5) past Oral Roberts (11-12, 9-2), 81-69, in Summit League men's basketball action on Thursday night inside the Athletics Center O'Rena.

"Obviously this was a really good win for us coming off the disappointments of last week," said OU coach Greg Kampe. "We executed extremely well offensively in the first half, but we turned the ball over a few too many times. I thought defensively we were outstanding after the first three or four possessions."

With the win, the Golden Grizzlies extend their home winning streak to nine games and ended ORU's eight-game winning streak. OU shot 56 percent (32-57) from the floor and improved to 11-0 when shooting 40 percent or better from long range, finishing the game at 50 percent (12-24).

Reaching double figures off the bench for Oakland was senior Dan Waterstradt, finishing with 10 points and five rebounds. He also had a season-high two blocks tonight.

The Golden Grizzlies used an 11-0 run just over the midway point of the first half to take a 10-point lead, 22-12, with 12:37 remaining. The Grizzlies would continue to lead throughout the opening half taking a seven-point advantage into the break, going 8-for-14 from beyond the arc.

OU would not trail for the rest of the game as the Golden Eagles tied the score on two occasions, but the Golden Grizzlies countered with freshman Blake Cushingberry's back-to-back 3-pointers, finishing with eight points, as OU outscored ORU 16-7 with just under six minutes to go to put the game away and win by 12.

Oral Roberts had two players in double figures, led by junior Kevin Ford's 19 points and six rebounds. Senior Robert Jarvis tallied 16 points, four rebounds and two assists.

Oakland will host Centenary College (7-16, 5-6) on Saturday at 6 p.m. inside the O'Rena. The men's game will follow the women's game which begins at 3:30 p.m.

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