Feb. 18, 2010
Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery 
ROCHESTER, Mich. - Senior Johnathon Jones posted a season-high 25 points and junior Will Hudson scored a career-high 22 to lead Oakland University (21-8, 15-1) past South Dakota State University (13-13, 9-6), 88-83, in Summit League men's basketball action on Thursday night inside the Athletics Center O'Rena. The Golden Grizzlies clinched at least a share of the regular-season championship.
"That game was an interesting game," said OU coach Greg Kampe. "We have (Johnathon) Jones, a senior who wants to win a championship, and he took it upon himself. He did it Saturday at UMKC and he did it again tonight. We got in trouble down the stretch and he said, not here, not tonight. He took the game over."
Oakland has won 18 straight league games at home and the Golden Grizzlies push their home winning streak to 11. The Grizzlies are now 22-1 in their last 23 Summit League games. With a win on Saturday night, OU will clinch the regular-season crown outright.
Also in double figures for OU was junior Keith Benson, tallying his league-leading 15th double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. He pushed his single-season school record in blocks to 94 with three more tonight. Senior Derick Nelson posted 10 points and eight rebounds, while sophomore Blake Cushingberry scored 10 points off the bench.
Despite a lot of back-and-forth play, the game only featured three lead changes and six ties. The Golden Grizzlies took an 11-point lead, 67-56, with 10:31 left in the game. The Jackrabbits then used an 8-0 run to get back within three, getting as close as two points, 76-74, with 4:26 left in the game.
Jones came up big once again with a deep 3-pointer to ignite a 7-2 run to push the lead back to seven points, 83-76, with less than three minutes to go. SDSU crept back within two points, 85-83, with 24 seconds left in the game on a pair of free throws from Clint Sargent, but senior Larry Wright was fouled and he converted both free throws to push his streak to 19 consecutive free throws made.
The Golden Grizzlies held 42-40 lead at halftime on a Benson turnaround jumper as time expired to push their record to 19-0 when leading at the break. The Jackrabbits scored 26 points off 14 OU turnovers, but the Grizzlies had 24 second-chance points.
Garrett Callahan led six Jacks in double figures with 16 points, all coming in the first half. Kai Williams also had 16, while Michael Palarca and Nate Wolters each scored 12.
The Golden Grizzlies will face North Dakota State on Saturday night inside the O'Rena. Game time is set for 6 p.m. and OU fans are encouraged to wear PINK for the PINK ZONE game that raises Breast Cancer Awareness.
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