April 21, 2011

ELMHURST, Ill. - Oakland University claimed The Summit League's 2010-11 "Food Fight' title by raising over 11,000 lbs. of food, winning its second title. The Summit League designated 20 "Food Fight" games during the basketball season with the 10 league member institutions combining to raise over 39,700 lbs., almost doubling last year's total of nearly 20,500 lbs.

Oakland's final winning total of 11,182.16 lbs. was donated to Lighthouse of Oakland County. The Golden Grizzlies won their second title in the three years of the league-wide food drive.

Southern Utah finished second, collecting 8,929 lbs., which was donated to Iron County Care and Share, while South Dakota State, last year's champion, took third with 8,364.71 lbs.

A total of 10 men's basketball games and 10 women's games were selected for the "Food Fight" initiative with host schools having exactly one week to collect food and/or cash donations and two weeks if the date featured a men's and women's doubleheader. This year marked a "Food Fight" first as the league extended the program to include the 2011 Summit League Basketball Championships in Sioux Falls, S.D. Feeding South Dakota teamed up with the league at the basketball championships to help facilitate the food drive with all donations going to the Sioux Falls Food Pantry.

In another first, Flip Video, through its "Flip For Good" campaign donated a flip video camera to each institution's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) to record its "Food Fight" activities. To watch the video click here or visit The Summit League on Facebook.

In the program's three years, over 75,000 lbs. of food has been collected. This season alone, seven schools surpassed the 1,000 lb. mark in donations.

- SUMMIT -