ROCHESTER, Mich. - Oakland University Men's Basketball stays home to host a New Year's Eve showdown in the O'rena against the Green Bay Phoenix in a Horizon League Conference matchup on Saturday, December 31 at 1:00 pm on ESPN+ with the "Voice of the Golden Grizzlies" Neal Ruhl and Tony Paul on the call on the Audacy App.

The Golden Grizzlies defeated the Panthers 83-61 in an exciting rally at home on Thursday night putting them back in the win column with a season record of 3-11. The momentum was visible right away as Oakland was up 43-39 at halftime after stepping out onto the court for the first time in just over a month. And ultimately, the Golden Grizzlies secured the well-deserved win on the Blacktop with their inspiring efforts as a team.   

Junior Blake Lampman was the first to score for the Golden Grizzlies with a swift corner three assisted by Trey Townsend. The Haslett native went on to then dominate the court as he tallied a career-high 20-points from his five successful three-point buckets, and five free throw shots providing a competitive edge for the team to defeat the Panthers. 

Rounding out the top scorers from the night were starters Jalen Moore with 17 points, Keaton Hervey with 16, Rocket Watts with 14, and Townsend with 10. 

With a solid 18-point scoring average across the slate, Townsend remains the top scoring leader for the Golden Grizzlies alongside top two teammates Hervey with a 13.6 average and Jalen Moore with 12.7 to round out the top three spots. Notably, Hervey leads the team in rebounds averaging 7.6 per game, with Townsend close beside him at 7.4. Oakland kept the Panthers 61 points being the least allowed since their pre-season exhibition matchup with Defiance. 

Townsend ranks fifth in the Horizon League in scoring with the third-best field goal percentage mark of 52.1% (101-194). Hervey ranks fourth in the conference in rebounding alongside Townsend who stands fifth. 

Moore climbs to 6.1 assists per game, the most in the conference, in his eleven games, with a total of 67 on the year. The recent college graduate rises up in the NCAA Division I rankings as he ranks 13th in assists per game. 

Townsend was named to the Lou Henson Award Watchlist on November 22 as one of four #HLMBB student-athletes listed.

Moore was the lone Golden Grizzly named to the Preseason #HLMBB All-League Team honor with OU predicted fourth with two first-place votes in the preseason poll as Purdue Fort Wayne and Northern Kentucky tied for the top honor. The Horizon League and ESPN released the annual wildcard selections for national telecasts with Oakland on four of the five potential selected dates, denoted on the team's schedule page and the game notes. 

Head Coach Greg Kampe enters his 39th season at the helm for Oakland University as the second-longest tenured coach in NCAA Division I basketball behind Jim Boeheim from Syracuse, who is in his 42nd season. Kampe has posted a 664-516 (56.3%) career record.

The early signing period has come for OU as Aundre Polk will join the team on The Blacktop in the fall of 2023. Polk is a former MAC All-Freshman Team member at Central Michigan.

SCOUTING REPORT

GREEN BAY
Cade Meyer leads the team in scoring with 11.6 points per contest in front of Zae Blake with a 10.2 points. Blake ranks first for rebounds between the team with an average of 3.8 per game alongside Meyer with 3.6. Brock Hefner is on the watchlist as well since his puts up the team third best of 9.0 points per game.

Green Bay currently holds the third-best opponent free-throw percentage of .755 in the Horizon League behind IUPUI with .755 and Detroit Mercy with .769. 

The Phoenix have competed against the Golden Grizzlies a total of 22 times since their first matchup in 2006 coming to their most recent 68-61 win last season in Green Bay territory. 

The Horizon League conference revealed the pre-season poll ranking Green Bay 10th out of 11 teams in the league for the 2022-23 season.  

 

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DA-DA-DA  DA-DA-DA
Moore and Hervey connected from a steal for the off-the-glass slam by the grad transfer from Missouri State for the team's first #SCTop10 of the 2022-23 season, coming in at No. 10 in the daily ESPN show on October 20.

NEW FACES
The Golden Grizzlies welcome in four transfers, two from the power five-level, Rocket Watts (Mississippi State), Lorne Bowman (Wisconsin), Keaton Hervey (Missouri State), and Chuol Deng (Hill College). Three freshmen join the new class Cooper Craggs, Dominic Capriotti, and Evan Solomon.

NEW HEAT IN MIAMI
Oakland's own Jamal Cain has earned a contract with the Miami Heat for the upcoming season wearing No. 8. Cain is just the latest active Golden Grizzly in the NBA with Kendrick Nunn, a regular part of the Los Angeles Lakers rotation.

GET YOUR TICKETS
Season tickets can be purchased through the Athletics Ticket Office by calling (248) 370-4000 or emailing outickets@oakland.edu. Single-game tickets and mini-plans are also available for the 2022-23 basketball season. 

NEW HOME FOR OAKLAND BASKETBALL
Oakland recently announced a partnership with Audacy that made 97.1 The Ticket HD3 and The Bet 1270AM (WXYT-AM) the official radio providers for the department. With this new partnership, 97.1 The Ticket HD3 and The Bet 1270AM (WXTY-AM) will provide coverage for all Oakland men's basketball games and the Greg Kampe Radio Show.

BACK FOR ANOTHER RUN
Kampe enters his 39th season at the helm of the Oakland men's basketball program. He is the second-longest tenured active coach in Division I, only behind Jim Boeheim (Syracuse, 45 seasons). Kampe's 665 career wins rank 12th among active Division I coaches.

PUTTING OAKLAND ON THE MAP
Kampe joined Oakland in 1984 after six seasons as an assistant coach at Toledo (1978-1984). Formerly known as the Pioneers, OU had only six winning seasons in 16 years of competition before his arrival.