ROCHESTER, Mich. – Oakland University Men's Basketball established team and individual bests Friday night as it defeated Ohio Christian University 108-40 inside the Athletics Center O'rena in non-conference action.

An alley-oop from Osei Price to Trey Townsend slammed the game open in the O'rena as Townsend continued to be a part of the next two baskets for Oakland, who popped out to a 8-0 start.

It wasn't until the 15:56 mark that Ohio Christian (2-11, 1-3 RSC) broke open the Trailblazers' scoring after a Will Shepherd jumper sandwiched in a Price three-pointer that gave Oakland the edge as Micah Parrish and Townsend took over in the paint as OU's lead was 10 at the under 12 media timeout.
 

Slim in transition. 🥶 #DefendTheDen pic.twitter.com/Jed5qkIBVE

— Oakland Basketball (@OaklandMBB) January 8, 2022

The Golden Grizzlies then took momentum on a 15-0 run behind Townsend, a Ty Wyman triple, Parrish, and Chris Conway layups that set Oakland up for its 53-18 lead at the half capped off by a Emmanuel Newsome jumper.

51 points is the most the Golden Grizzlies have scored in a half this season, holding the Trailblazers to a low 18. As a team, Oakland shot 54.4% (24-44) from the field with 30 rebounds to the team's credit to OCU's 13. 

Townsend led all scorers with 18 after the first twenty minutes, tacking on seven rebounds (six of them offensive) with three assists. Conway reached his career high in the first half with 10 points as Parrish was just behind with nine. 

Price was a menace on the defensive side of the court in the first half with three steals as the team took away eight possessions from Ohio Christian 16 points off turnovers to OCU's zero. 

After four unanswered points by the Trailblazers out of the half, Townsend sank two free throws at the 18:32 mark that opened the door for both he and Conway to take over the game, putting OU up by as much as 43 as Brody Parker drained a layup in the paint before OCU could finally respond.
 

Brody stays with it and converts the pick-and-roll layup for 2⃣ #DefendTheDen pic.twitter.com/UUbTXwb9jk

— Oakland Basketball (@OaklandMBB) January 8, 2022

A Blake Lampman three at 12:28 sparked another long 14-0 run for Oakland that would see Parrish and Conway reach the free throw line on multiple occasions as Will Shepherd hit a fastbreak layup from Lampman as a jumper by OCU would squish itself in between another Lampman three at 7:41. 

The lead was by as much as 69 when Newsome hit a jumper as the last of the Trailblazers' offense faded out as the clock hit zero with the Golden Grizzlies ahead by 68 in the final box score.

Townsend set a career high in points scored with 26, beating his best of 25 that was set back on November 13 against Rice. The Oxford native tied his career high in field goals made with 12 while tallying 10 rebounds for his second double double of the season.

Conway set career highs in all categories with minutes played (22) while scoring 22 points off 10-11 field goals and ten rebounds for his first-ever double double of his career. 

In other notable highlights, Parrish tied his career assists mark with four while Newsome set career highs in points and assists with eight and five, respectively. 

The squad shot a best 62.7% from the field on 47-75 attempts along with an 80% (8-10) free throw shooting percentage. 46 rebounds fell in the hands of the gold and black to the Trailblazers' 25. The Golden Grizzlies had 17 takeaways for 39 points off those turnovers to OCU's four. OU also found success in the paint, scoring 72 points.  

108 is the most points scored by Oakland since a 2017 win over Youngstown State while this is the first time the opponent was held to 50 points or less since December 4 in a Horizon League win over IUPUI. The Golden Grizzlies also set team highs in field goals made (47), field goal attempts (75), assists (30), and steals (17) on Friday night as well. 

Horizon League play will return for Oakland on Sunday, January 9 at 4:00 p.m. as University of WIsconsin-Milwaukee takes to the O'rena with the game broadcasted on ESPN3/+ and TheBet 1270 AM (WXYT-AM) on the Audacy App.