FORT WAYNE, Ind. – A 76-68 win at Purdue University Fort Wayne on Saturday afternoon capped off a 2-0 weekend for Oakland University Men's Basketball who improved their record to 13-4, 7-0 in the Horizon League. 

A stepback jumper by Jalen Moore put the Golden Grizzlies on the board inside the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum as both teams exchanged possessions early, knotted at 2-2 for the lesser of two minutes.

With exactly 15:00 to go on the clock, Oakland found themselves working down 13-8 before Moore's triple pulled the Mastodons (8-8, 4-4 HL) lead back to within two at 13-11. After a pair of threes from PFW, a Trey Townsend layup just outside the paint keeps things at 16-14 with 12:30 and change left in the first half.

As Oakland continued to battle the Mastodons shooting, Jamal Cain found himself with 13 points early on behind a missed Blake Lampman three that led to the first Golden Grizzlies dunk of the game as PFW continued to lead by two at 22-20 with just under ten minutes to go.

A blowby layup by Moore pulled PFW down to 24-22 with a little overweight minutes left before both teams hit the media timeout at 7:21. Scoring hit a stalemate for the better of three-plus minutes in the later stages of the first frame as Oakland was shooting 34.6% (9-26) from the field early on.

Osei Price's corner three pointer broke the drought as the score stayed deadlocked at 27-25 with just under three to go. Oakland would struggle down the stretch as the three-point shooting by PFW heated up and OU saw a six point deficit at the half 36-30.

Cain led the team at the break with 13 points and three rebounds while Moore finished the half with nine points, five rebounds, and two assists. OU and PFW both saw similar shooting percentages from the field in the first half as the Golden Grizzlies shot 33.3% (11-33) to the Mastodons' 35.5% (9-27). PFW did have the edge in three point shooting though Oakland tallied more boards than Purdue Fort Wayne with 22 to 19. 

A flagrant one foul to start the second half by PFW handed OU's Trey Townsend a made three throw plus the ball as Cain picked up a loose ball and sank a floater as the team's continued to tough it out at 38-33. 

Cain's shooting foul free throws elevated his total to 18 as the game continued to tick down with the Mastodons staying just out of the reach of Oakland through plays like Moore's lob assist to Townsend for the slam.

That's @treyt430 𝓐𝓫𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓻𝓲𝓶. ✈️#DefendTheDen pic.twitter.com/sayalEHnVM

— Oakland Basketball (@OaklandMBB) January 15, 2022

Oakland and Purdue Fort Wayne continued to fight one another, exchanging baskets as Jalen Moore drained a three with just over 11 minutes left while Parrish was able to get one of two attempts at the free throw line for the 48-47 game still in the Mastodon's favor.

Moore's steal and driving layup in the paint gave Oakland the lead plus Micah Parrish's jumper at 10:09 and some change lifted the Golden Grizzlies above the Mastodons 52-50 before Moore sailed past the PFW defense handed OU its largest lead of the afternoon at 54-50 with 8:50 to go in the game.

Parrish's triple continued to give Oakland its largest lead as it continued to build the 59-52 edge at the under eight media timeout. A combination of free throws from Townsend and Parrish aided the five point lead at the next timeout, the under four media, at 64-59. 

At 66-60 with 2:49 left, a PFW timeout and shot clock violation gave OU possession as Moore sent a shovel pass inside to Townsend for an eight point lead as the game ticked under two minutes to go. 

A pick-and-roll dunk from Moore to Townsend effectively halted any hope PFW would have in returning in this game with 39 seconds to go and an Oakland timeout as the buzzer went off at the War Memorial Coliseum for an OU win 76-68.

𝙋𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙤𝙡𝙡 + plus the slam.@lil_jmoore34 to @treyt430. #DefendTheDen pic.twitter.com/Cvvx57chly

— Oakland Basketball (@OaklandMBB) January 15, 2022

Moore finished the game with his second-best season high in points with 24 to go along with six rebounds and five assists for his third twenty-plus point performance of the season. Cain held 18 points behind Moore with six rebounds as well.

Townsend completed all 40 minutes for the second game in a row with 15 points, four rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Moore was a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line to back up the team's 80.8% (21-26) charity stripe shooting. This mark is better than PFW's 68.8% (11-16) who, before today's game, were the No. 10 free throw shooting team in the country.

Previously, Oakland was 1-3 on the season when down at halftime. That mark has naturally improved to 2-3 as the Golden Grizzlies wrapped up today's game with a 43.6% (24-55) percentage from the field, 30.4% (7-23) from three-point range.

Townsend and Cain helped with 30 points in the paint for Oakland to the Mastodon's 16.

Oakland will be out in Wisconsin for its next matchup in Horizon League play on Thursday, January 20 in Milwaukee to take on the Panthers a second time for a 7:00 p.m. tip. 


 

More from this afternoon's win over the Mastodons.

OU shot better at the line than the 10th-best free throw shooting team in the country. #DefendTheDen pic.twitter.com/vzn73WuDQY

— Oakland Basketball (@OaklandMBB) January 15, 2022