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Oakland University Head Coach Greg Kampe
Opening Statement
"We don't make it easy, do we? I've never seen us miss free throws like that, I've never seen us make the mistakes we made, but we got a break. Then we made another mistake and let the guy get open and shoot it, but we got lucky. One of these days we're going to get caught if we're not a little more careful. It's uncharacteristic to have guys missing free throws. The bad part is we couldn't get Derick (Nelson) back in there to get the ovation he deserved on senior night, and we couldn't do that for JJ either, and that's the part I'm most upset about, that it ended that way. But, a win is a win, and 17 wins is the most wins in the history of the league. I told the team that if we did this, we had to go win the tournament, because if you win 17 games and don't win the tournament, nobody is going to call you the greatest team in the history of the league, and we have the record to be called that if we win the tournament."
On the injury to Derick Nelson
"He aggravated a previous injury early in the second half. I think what happened is he sat out so long in the first half after he got the second foul, and we kept him out, then he went out and maybe he didn't warm up well enough. When that kid went by him and got that rebound, I knew he was done for the night."
On IPFW's hanging tough
"They always do. We've had a lot of trouble with them. Dane (Fife) does a nice job, and his kids are well-prepared. Earlier in the year, we had a double-digit lead, and they came back. In their gym you kind of expect that. You would hope at home we could finish it off, and I guess we did. They do a nice job, and they have some good players. I don't like the way we guarded down the stretch, but we had a really weird lineup in. They were really little, and Will (Hudson) maybe wasn't able to guard those guys off the dribble, so we went to a small lineup and it was just weird. It hasn't happened before, and they took advantage of it."
On Keith Benson's career night
"He had nine rebounds in the first half and only one in the second, so that's not good. They struggled to guard him, and they tried to guard him one-on-one, and most everyone tries to double and triple him. He was happy they did that, and he was able to get some good, clean looks in there. He kept us in the game when things weren't going well."
On his team's performance leading into the tournament
"We've won eight straight games. How can you not feel good? I'm not happy with the way the game ended, but it's a long season and weird things happen. This is a lot better happening than weird things happening and us walking out with a loss, and that could have happened. That shot at the end goes in, we go into overtime with Hudson having four fouls and Benson fouled out. We'd be in trouble. We have won eight straight basketball games, and 17 out of the last 18. How can you not feel happy with that. Yeah, we're going into the tournament, and it's going to be a war. Our goal all year has been to get back to that championship game and then finish, and that's what we're planning on doing."
Junior center Keith Benson
On his good start in tonight's game
"It was the one-on-one defense. My teammates were able to get me the ball in the right spots and find me for open looks."
Whether he was surprised to not be doubleteamed
"The help defenders were looking at me but never came. I wasn't expecting a double team."
Senior guard Johnathon Jones
On the wins in close games
"I think it's a maturity with this team. Last year with (Derick) Nelson going out we had a lot of players who had to step up and play a lot of key minutes. We may look young but we've got a lot of players who have played a lot of key minutes. Larry (Wright) stepped up, and (Drew) Valentine gave us some solid minutes."
On potentially playing IPFW again
"They're a good team. We'll have to look on film to see what little things we can improve if that happens."
IPFW Head Coach Dane Fife
Opening Statement
"What a great basketball game to be a part of. I think it really came down to Oakland's size and we just couldn't stop Keith Benson for the first three-fifths of the game. I have to think Benson is going to have a great opportunity to go pro this year. He's just that good and I would be surprised if he came back because he is so long and so tough to guard. He has a presence out there. The good news is that we'll have him being in the NBA next year to look forward to and not have to worry about him playing us. I thought our guys did an outstanding job of fighting. We had a little luck down the stretch when Oakland missed a few free throws. It was a great game and it will be an exciting league tournament for sure because you have a lot of teams that play hard. Oakland is the clear-cut favorite but there are other teams that can come out in the right enviroment and have a chance."
On IPFW clawing back in the final eight minutes
"I thought we did a nice job on the defensive end. I thought Jeremy Mixon did a nice job for us getting to the rim. We don't quit and that's one of our staples: fighitng until the end. I was pleased to see it and it gives some momentum going into the tounament."
On entering the tournament
"We are playing in Sioux Falls against the host team and if you were there last year, you saw what they did to Oral Roberts. It's not going to be easy. We match up well and it's going to be a home court advantage for them. The question will be whether our guys will be prepared for that mentally or not. That's what it is going to come down to: mental toughness and whether we will be able to handle the crowd and having everything seemingly go against you."
On the final play of the game
"They knew we needed a three and something sprung open for Zach Plackmeier to have a shot. I thought he could have taken another dribble to get closer, but the shot looked like it was in. He makes big time shots for us and I wouldn't want any other guy on our team taking it."
