DETROIT, Mich. – A Jalen Moore three-pointer fired things off for the Oakland University Men's Basketball team Tuesday night at Little Caesars Arena in front of 16,800 attendees as it fell 90-78 to Michigan State University in non-conference action.

Jamal Cain then followed up with a triple of his own as the Golden Grizzlies (7-4) found themselves in a 15-8 deficit at the 14:39 mark in the first half. After a pair of free throws from Jalen Moore, Micah Parrish then cut the lead for the Spartans (10-2) down to 17-13 as his three meant Oakland was firing 75% from the arc early on.

Pull up 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘬 😤 @lil_jmoore34 from the parking lot pic.twitter.com/OY1NVGLZEU

— Oakland Basketball (@OaklandMBB) December 22, 2021

Down 31-22 with 7:49 left in the first, Moore's second three of the game sparked a 11-4 run for the Golden Grizzlies as Jamal Cain went back-to-back from behind the line to close the gap back to 36-33 as the Pontiac native halted Michigan State's offense. The Spartans shooting then heated up in the final stretch as both teams raced toward halftime with MSU leading 44-35. 

Cain and Moore found themselves in double-digit scoring after twenty minutes of play with 13 and 12 points, respectively. The three-point shooting cooled off slightly as the team shot 6-13 (46.2%) down the stretch as the squad shot 50% (13-26) from the field. The Spartans held the edge in the rebound margin with 18 to Oakland's 12 as OU's Parrish had four at the break.

Jamal Cain 𝙥𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙨 the rim 💪 pic.twitter.com/SyI35987uf

— Oakland Basketball (@OaklandMBB) December 22, 2021

Cain then took flight to start the second half for OU with a dunk to keep things to a 10-point lead for the Spartans. At the 14:27 mark, still down by 10, Oakland continued to shoot 45.7% (16-35) from the field as the Golden Grizzlies improved to 81.8% (9-11) from the charity stripe behind Moore's 3-4 as Moore drained a jumper to follow up.

Trey Townsend's drained three from the help of Zion Young at 6:45 continued to keep the Spartans within striking distance at 73-63 as both teams continued to battle down the stretch. A five second violation by MSU turned into points for Oakland as Townsend finished a layup off the inbound to pull the Golden Grizzlies back to within eight at 84-76 with 2:12 remaining. 

Down the stretch, OU was unable to overcome the eight point deficit as a dunk at the end by Michigan State finished things at 90-78 as the final LED lights went off at Little Caesars Arena. 

Moore finished the game as the team's leading scorer with 25 as he locked down the double-double with 11 assists while Cain secured his second-straight game with 20 or more points, his sixth overall this season as the grad student finished with 20 and six rebounds. Parrish was just behind, finishing with 19 points. 

As a team, Oakland shot 43.9% (25-57) from the field all while going 78.3% (18-23) from the freethrow line. MSU won the rebound battle with 37 to the Golden Grizzlies' 28. 

After the holiday break, Oakland will return to action at Athletics Center O'rena for a 7:00 p.m. tip against Horizon League foe Robert Morris University on Thursday, December 30.