Jan. 14, 2010

ROCHESTER, Mich. - Junior Keith Benson posted his 10th double-double with 22 points and 13 rebounds, freshman Ledrick Eackles scored a career-high 20 points, and senior Johnathon Jones tallied his third double-double with 13 points and 12 assists to lead Oakland University (12-7, 6-0) to an 87-73 victory over UMKC (8-8, 2-3) on Thursday night in Summit League men's basketball action inside the Athletics Center O'Rena.

"No championship is ever won in January, but you can lose them in January," said OU coach Greg Kampe. "We're used to winning at home and we have won 14 straight league games in our building. We believe we shouldn't lose at home and to be the program we want to be, we have to win our home games. We don't look ahead or worry about anything else."

The Golden Grizzlies have now won 13 straight league games, dating back to last season. That streak ranks third best in conference history, second only to Valparaiso's 14 (1998, '99) and Cleveland State's 16 (1992, '93). OU is on a six-game winning streak and the 6-0 start in league play is the best in program history.

Jones set a new school record with 34 consecutive free throws made, going 4-for-4 tonight. Also in double figures for the Grizzlies was senior Derick Nelson with 10 points and six boards.

Oakland used a 15-5 run midway through the first half to take its first double-digit lead, 23-13, with 8:31 left until halftime. The Kangaroos sliced the lead back to single digits, but OU used a 6-0 run to extend the lead to 17 points and led by 12 at the break, 41-29.

It looked like OU was going to run away with the game early in the second half, but UMKC had other ideas. The Kangaroos mounted a 15-5 run and got as close as seven points, 78-71, with less than two minutes left in the game. The Golden Grizzlies were able to convert 7 of 8 free throws down the stretch, including four straight from junior Larry Wright to hold on for the victory.

OU improves to 12-0 this season when leading at halftime and outscored the Kangaroos 33-13 from the charity stripe.

UMKC was led by Spencer Johnson with a double-double, scoring 17 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Kirk Korver and Trey McKinney-Jones each had 15 points for the Kangaroos.

Oakland will host Southern Utah (5-12, 1-5) on Saturday at the O'Rena. Game time is set for 6 p.m. and will air on WXOU-FM (88.3) with Neal Ruhl on the call.

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