MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — The Oakland men's basketball team opened the 2021-22 season with a narrow 60-53 loss at West Virginia on Tuesday night at the WVU Coliseum. 

The Golden Grizzly defense came to play in Morgantown, outrebounding the Mountaineers 48-33 and limiting the home squad to their lowest scoring output in 33 games, dating back to the 2019-20 season. Oakland (0-1) was especially impressive on the offensive glass with 20 rebounds. 

In making his first career start at Oakland, graduate senior Jamal Cain posted a team-high 15 points to go along with seven rebounds and three steals in 33 minutes of action. Second-year freshman Micah Parrish tallied his third-career double-double with 10 points and a team-leading 12 rebounds. Eight of his 12 rebounds came on the offensive end. Another second-year freshman in Trey Townsend had 12 points on efficient 5-of-9 shooting in 40 minutes, while sophomore Blake Lampman shot 2-of-5 from deep en route to eight points.

The WVU defense caused fits, forcing Oakland to an uncharacteristic 25 turnovers and 18-percent shooting (3-for-23) on 3-pointers. The Mountaineers turned those 25 turnovers into 22 points. Junior point guard Jalen Moore committed a career-high 13 turnovers and was also limited to just four points.

OU used a 9-0 run to take a 9-3 lead at the 15:46 minute mark of the first half, highlighted by a dunk from Townsend. Both teams were quiet offensively, shooting a combined 0-of-15 from deep before WVU's Taz Sherman broke the streak to give the Mountaineers their first advantage, 20-18, at the 5:32 mark. West Virginia capped an 8-0 run, which spanned over six minutes, to go up 22-18 with 2:44 minutes remaining. 

Oakland got within two points, 25-23, following a Townsend 3-pointer, but WVU closed the half with a basket to go into the break ahead 27-23. 

The Mountaineers got things going in the second half, extending their advantage to 50-33 at the 11:01 mark. The Golden Grizzlies fought back, reducing the West Virginia edge to six, 53-47, with 6:29 to go after consecutive 3-point scores by Cain and Parrish. 

WVU responded with a quick 4-0 run to build its lead back to double-digits, 57-47, at the 4:41 minute mark. The home squad led the rest of the way to clinch a 60-53 home win.

The Golden Grizzlies will continue non-conference play on Friday, Nov. 12, at Oklahoma State. The game will tip-off at 8 p.m. ET and air on ESPN+.