CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Oakland University men's basketball team picked up its first road win in league play of the year, defeating Cleveland State 68-55 on Saturday, January 11, at the Wolstein Center. Freshman Blake Lampman went 4-of-6 from three for a team-high 15 points. 

Senior Xavier Hill-Mais also notched 15 points on the afternoon, going 6-of-7 from the floor. Hill-Mais and sophomore Daniel Oladapo each had a game-high seven rebounds. 

Junior Kevin Kangu hit double figures for the first time since Nov. 18 against Hartford, chipping in 13. Kangu started the season averaging 10.7 ppg through the first six games of the year. Oakland (7-11, 2-3 HL) has had at least three scorers in double figures in six-straight outings.

Oakland finished above 40-percent from beyond the arc for just the second time this season, knocking down 43-percent from range (6-of-14). 

Algevon Eichelberger had a game-high 20 points for Cleveland State (7-11, 3-2 HL) and a team-best six rebounds. The Vikings shot just 18-percent from deep, knocking only two attempts. 

Oakland's largest lead for 16:32 of the second half was seven, with the game spent within a possession 11 times until Kangu found Lampman in the corner for his fourth three-pointer of the contest to send the Golden Grizzlies ahead 60-51 into the under-four minute media timeout. 

Lampman stepped in front of a breaking Viking to take a charge, giving Oakland the ball back with a seven point edge. On the following trip down the court, Hill-Mais went to work on the post to put the lead back to nine - forcing CSU into fouling over the final 90 seconds.  

Free throws were a major factor in Oakland's first half lead. The Golden Grizzlies' drew 14 fouls in the first half that turned into 22 attempts at the line. Eighteen of Oakland's 30 first-half points came from the charity stripe. The Golden Grizzlies attempted only 15 shots from the floor in the opening 20 minutes. 

It took 13:22 before the Vikings hit double figures as a team, but the CSU offense began to show signs of life in the final three minutes, closing the half on a 10-3 run to cut the Oakland advantage to five, 30-25. Cleveland State shot under 20-percent from the floor through the under-eight media timeout. The Vikings finished the half at 39 percent (10-of-26) - making four of their final five attempts. 

Lampman had his stroke early, knocking down 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. Hill-Mais was active on the glass, pulling down six boards to power a +7 rebounding margin at the break. 

Oakland avoids starting 1-4 in conference play since joining the Horizon League. The last time the Golden Grizzlies started 2-3 in the Horizon League was 2017-18. Oakland went on to win five straight after dropping three of the year's first four in conference action and finished the season 10-8 to earn the No. 4 seed in the Horizon League Tournament. 

Oakland claimed its fifth-straight victory in Cleveland over CSU - the Golden Grizzlies haven't lost at the Wolstein Center since January 8, 2015. 

Next up for Oakland is a trip to Wisconsin for a pair of league contests against Green Bay on Thursday, January 16, and Milwaukee on Saturday, January 18. 

Notes

• For the first time this season, coach Greg Kampe started two freshmen - Zach Goodline and Madison Monroe. It was Goodline's first start. He has played in every game since the start of league play on Dec. 28. Monroe makes his second-straight start and fourth of the year. Joining the frosh were Tray Maddox Jr., Brad Brechting and Xavier Hill-Mais. 
• Eighteen of Oakland's 30 first half points came from the free throw line. The Golden Grizzlies finished the game 26-of-37 from the charity stripe. It was the most free throw attempts and makes on the season. Last time out at Youngstown State, Oakland went 3-of-6 for the outing from the foul line. 
• Lampman went 4-of-6 from deep for 15 points - he has knocked down three or more triples in eight games this season and in three-consecutive games. 
• The Golden Grizzlies finished with 17 turnovers - 13 of which came in the opening half. 
• The three-point streak was extended to 988 by Blake Lampman. The last time Oakland did not convert a shot from behind the arc was on Jan. 30, 1988 vs. Wayne State University. The Golden Grizzlies have hit a three-ball in 988-consecutive games, which is the seventh-longest streak in the NCAA.
• Kevin Kangu knocked down two triples marking the first time he has hit multiple three-pointers since the season opener against Goshen on Nov. 5. 
• Xavier Hill-Mais finished with 15 points - marking his 14th-straight outing with double-digit points and 17th this season. 
• Lampman hit double digits for the first time since the Horizon League opener against Detroit on Dec. 28. It is the fifth time the Haslett native has scored in double figures this year. 
• Kevin Kangu hit double figures for the first time since Nov. 18 against Hartford where he finished with 11. Kangu started the season averaging 10.7 ppg through the first six games of the year. 
• Zach Goodline notched the first points of his college career, knocking down 6-of-6 from the free throw line. He was 0-for-2 from the floor. 
• Oakland has had at least three scorers in double figures in six-straight outings. The Golden Grizzlies have had five double-digit scorers twice this year. The last time the Golden Grizzlies had just one double-digit scorer was against No. 16/15 Michigan State on Dec. 14.
• Oakland's defense sits second in the league at 67.2 points surrendered per game. The Golden Grizzlies held opponents to under 60 points four times this season. Opponents have hit just 40.7 percent of their field goals against Oakland, making the Golden Grizzlies' defense tops in the Horizon League in the category.