Jan. 9, 2010

Box Score | Notes | Highlights

SHREVEPORT, La. - Oakland outscored Centenary 64-26 in the paint and held a 51-21 advantage on the glass as the Golden Grizzlies (11-7, 5-0) handed the Gents (6-10, 2-4) their worst home loss at 38 points, 88-50, in Summit League men's basketball action inside the Gold Dome. Junior Larry Wright had a game-high 15 points for OU.

"We knew that our players were going to play hard after we got our butts kicked here last season," said OU coach Greg Kampe who earned his 430th career win tonight. "Our game plan was to have our guys throw it into the post high because we had a real size advantage and they did a nice job with that."

Junior Keith Benson finished with 14 points and seven rebounds, while senior Derick Nelson grabbed seven rebounds and had six points, moving into 11th all-time in league history with 752 career boards. The Golden Grizzlies have won 12 straight league games, dating back to last season, and their 5-0 start this year matches their best-ever beginning in league play (5-0 in 2006-07).

Sophomores Blake Cushingberry and Drew Maynard each tallied 11 points for the Grizzlies, while freshman Ledrick Eackles had 10 points and a career-high five assists. Freshman Drew Valentine posted a career-best nine points and six rebounds.

Oakland had 10 of its 11 players score in the contest. Senior Johnathon Jones finished with eight assists in just 27 minutes to become the first Oakland player to surpass 100 assists (104) in four consecutive seasons. Junior Will Hudson finished the game with eight points and six boards.

Centenary entered tonight's game averaging 75.2 points per game and a league-best eight 3-pointers per contest and were held to season lows in both.

OU went on a 19-0 run and outscored the Gents, 26-2 over a 10-minute stretch in the first half to lead by as many as 22 points in the first half and held a 43-21 advantage at the break. That lead would blow up all the way to 44 points in the game as the Grizzlies cruised to their second straight road victory.

The Golden Grizzlies return home for a two-game Summit League stand against UMKC (Jan. 14) and Southern Utah (Jan. 16). Tip on Thursday night will be 7 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturday inside the Athletics Center O'Rena.