FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Oakland University Men's Basketball fell in overtime to Purdue Fort Wayne 79-73 at the Gates Sports Center on ESPNU for the team's second Horizon League loss of the season.

Trey Townsend and company started off the game with a basket 25 seconds in as Rocket Watts would begin his Saturday afternoon journey with a busket at the 18:06 mark. The Detroit native was well on his way to his Oakland (2-8, 0-2 #HLMBB) tenure-best 20 points with a basket from downtown two minutes or so later.
 

Big shot from the close-side corner from @RocketWatts pic.twitter.com/sQpTWFshtu

— Oakland Basketball (@OaklandMBB) December 3, 2022

The Mastodons (5-4, 1-1 #HLMBB) tied it up a short while later, taking the lead 12-11 off a free throw before Watts put three up on the scoreboard again, keeping the Dons from stomping out to a lead in the first half.

PFW started to roll with leads of four to seven points at any given moment in the middle part of the first frame, not having a foul call on the home team for 11 and a half minutes. A 13-point lead would be the most Purdue Fort Wayne saw in the first half as the combination of Jalen Moore and Watts made the lead single digits and stay there the rest of the half.

At the break, the Mastodons found themselves up on the scoreboard in the Gates Sports Center 38-31.

Watts' jumper out of the locker room put Oakland back in five though the Dons responded right back with a triple a possession later. The lead swelled to ten as Hervey would do his best to reel the home white jerseys back in with his points in the paint.

Townsend's first three of the game came at the 13:49 mark, as the game would dance from anywhere between eight and five points for a few minutes with the barrier finally broken by Hervey to cut the Dons' lead to three with 9:22 to go in regulation.

The Oxford native once again get an opportunity to make the lead a single point for PFW, as the junior sank a fastbreak bucket to hold the game at 57-56 with 7:40 on the board. Hervey's three-pointer gave Oakland the lead with 6:33 on the clock, silencing the once rambunctious crowd in Fort Wayne. 

Both teams battled down the stretch answering bucket for bucket behind Moore's deep ball to stall scoring for all squads for a minute and a half to the 3:37 point. Purdue Fort Wayne had its lead up to seven as Osei Price made the most of his and-one opportunity to put OU within four with 1:55 remaining, Moore followed right up off a missed PFW jumper with a triple of his own.

With 41 seconds remaining in regulation, Moore drilled his third three-pointer of the afternoon, prompting a quick 30-second timeout by the Oakland bench. Time ticked by back on the court with the Mastodons' possession, getting a floater to fall through the net with 16 seconds remaining.

Moore then hustled down the court and pulled up a deep-ball heave that would land, sending the Golden Grizzlies bench into a frenzy as the Mastodons rushed down the hardwood to put up a shot that bounced off the iron to send both teams to overtime.
 

WHO ELSE BUT @lil_jmoore34

TO SEND US TO OT pic.twitter.com/V6aseBJEPK

— Oakland Basketball (@OaklandMBB) December 3, 2022

A jumper by the Mastodons started off the extra period while a three-pointer extended PFW's lead back out to five points as the only points Oakland scored in overtime came in Hervey, who secured a jumper in the paint. PFW made baskets down the stretch, finishing the game at 79-73. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Hervey finished with a team-high 21 points in 43 minutes of play, reinforced by 13 rebounds for his second double-double in his career
• Watts' 20 points is the most in a Golden Grizzlies uniform, including a 4-4 free throw mark
• Of Oakland's 73 points, only five were generated by bench subs Price and Lorne Bowman II
• Four of Oakland's starting five registered double-digits 
• Moore facilitated five assists to round out 42 minutes with 13 points
• Both teams were even in the paint, 28 points apiece
• Oakland finished the overtime collision with a 40.3% (27-67) field goal percentage, 71.4% (10-14) from the charity stripe

Oakland will go back to non-conference action on Tuesday, December 6 at 6:00 pm in Syracuse, New York to do battle with the Orange at the JMC Wireless Dome.