ROCHESTER, Mich. -- Xavier Hill-Mais scored a career high 32 points on 11 of 16 shooting including 4 of 5 from beyond the arc as the Oakland men's basketball team topped Northern Kentucky 76-74 Thursday night inside the O'rena. Hill-Mais recorded his fourth 30-point game this season.

Jaevin Cumberland scored 15 points and dished out six assists while Braden Norris added 11 points, seven assists and committed no turnovers in 39 minutes of play.

Karmari Newman scored 10 points and was 3 of 7 from three-point range.

The Golden Grizzlies (7-9, 3-0 HL), who came into the game ranking fourth in the nation in assists, had 23 assists on 25 field goals made. Oakland held NKU to 0-for-8 shooting from three-point range in the second half. 

Northern Kentucky (12-4, 2-1 HL) went on a 7-0 run and held Oakland scoreless in the final 2:36 to end the first half as Oakland trailed 42-32. The win marked just the second time this season the Golden Grizzlies came back and won when down at the half.

In the second half, Oakland went on a 24-9 run over a seven-minute stretch to gain the lead.

Down 75-74, the Norse missed a three pointer with four seconds left to play. Newman pulled down the rebound and was fouled, making the front end of his pair of free throws, then intentionally missing the second shot with 0.7 seconds left to seal the win.

Oakland moves to 3-0 in Horizon League play for the second time since joining the conference in 2013-14, with the other time being the 2016-17 season when the Golden Grizzlies started 4-0 in the league.

Oakland will continue its home stand by welcoming preseason favorite Wright State Saturday, Jan. 5 at 3 p.m.





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