NASSAU, Bahamas. – Oakland University Men's Basketball fell to Missouri State 76-64 in the seventh-place game at the Baha Mar Convention Center, wrapping up Nassau Championship play for the Golden Grizzlies on Sunday.

Missouri State (3-3, 0-0 MVC) would enter the game with a made deep ball to open play as the Golden Grizzlies (2-6, 0-0 #HLMBB) responded by rattling off six straight behind the hands of Trey Townsend and Jalen Moore making it a 6-3 ball game with 16:26 to go.

Oakland would find itself up by ten points or so throughout the midway point of the first half as Chris Conway, Blake Lampman, and Osei Price would all get into the stat sheet early on as the Golden Grizzlies' run would continue in the midst of a Missouri State scoring drought.

With three minutes remaining in the first, the Bears would reel in Oakland's lead behind a 2:00 offensive stall, retaking the lead at 30-29 for the second time in the frame before Keaton Hervey's single free throw shot tied it up.

The Bears answered the short-spurted run by Oakland with a three-point shot to retake the lead at 33-30 with 10 seconds remaining as time ticked. Moore inbounded a pass to Lampman who took the ball up the court and heaved a buzzer-beating shot to knot things up at 33-33 at the break.

Lampman drains a three-ball as time expires.

Tie ball game heading into the locker room. pic.twitter.com/cxOLC58YpK

— Oakland Basketball (@OaklandMBB) November 27, 2022

As a team, Oakland shot 50% (13-26) from the field with a 41.7% (5-12) mark from downtown. Townsend was the team's leading scorer after the first 20 minutes with 11 points while Rocket Watts totaled four boards in the first frame of play. 

Though the game was fairly even in the box score after the first half, the Golden Grizzlies did edge Missouri State in rebounds, 18-14. 

The Bears wasted no time out of the break. 27 seconds in, the designated "home" team gabbed a three-pointer to spark a run that once again buried Oakland down the stretch. Townsend and Moore would make a few baskets to try and bring MSU's lead back within a few points but an 11-3 scoring run by the Bears would shut the effort down.

Hervey did explode to finish with a career-high 24 points while the grad transfer and Townsend tied for a team-high five rebounds as the clock expired at the Baha Mar Convention Center as OU would fall in the seventh-place match 76-64. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Hervey was the team's leading scorer for the fourth time this season with 24 points, a career high previously set against Defiance
• Moore dished out four assists in the effort
• Oakland continued to improve upon free throw shooting, finishing the day with 66.7% (8-12) from the line

Oakland will now turn its attention to Thursday, December 1 at 7:00 pm in Cleveland, Ohio for the #HLMBB opener against Cleveland State on ESPN+ and the Audacy App inside the Wolstein Center.