ROCHESTER, Mich. – Oakland University Men's Basketball alum and current Los Angeles Laker, Kendrick Nunn, had his No. 1 jersey hung inside the Athletics Center O'rena Friday night as the Golden Grizzlies dropped the Horizon League match to Wright State, 78-74.
Jalen Moore answered a Raiders' three-pointer off the first possession to bring the packed Grizz Gang student section to its feet. Moore then followed up with a jumper of his own as both teams were gridlocked early on at the under sixteen media timeout at 11-11 off Jamal Cain's long two-pointer.
Moore's tear-drop floater gave OU the lead at 13-11 with under 14 minutes to go before the Raiders answered right back. Wright State came out shooting better than Oakland at 60% (6-10) from the field but mishandled three possessions for three turnovers.
Two back-to-back triples by the Raiders pulled the away green further from Oakland at 21-15 as WSU went on a 14-2 run before Cain was sent to the free throw line going into the media timeout.
Micah Parrish sinks a triple from the corner to bring Wright State back within six as Trey Townsend blocked a Raiders layup, setting up Parrish for a back-to-back shot from deep as Oakland still found themselves down by three.
Blake Lampman's threes continued to try and pull these Raiders back in as the game was suddenly tied at 30-30 at the last media timeout of the half before Parrish's third triple of the game regained Oakland the lead at 2:20.
Oakland was 48.3% (14-29) from the field in the first frame as Moore led the team with 11 points. Wright State did out-rebound the Golden Grizzlies 18-11 but OU won the turnover battle, forcing the Raiders to cough up eight possessions as Oakland had six steals and five points off those turnovers.
At halftime, Oakland University Men's Basketball alum and current Los Angeles Laker, Kendrick Nunn, had his jersey hung in the rafters at the Athletics Center O'rena as part of the special ceremony.
Wright State scored a quick jumper to open the second half before Cain and Townsend had something to say about it, going up 42-38 before the Raiders passed by the OU defense for the layup.
A deep ball by WSU retook the lead before Parrish hit his fourth three-pointer of the afternoon before Oakland stepped out to a five-point lead behind Lampman's third triple as well at 48-43. Into the under 12 media timeout, the Golden Grizzlies were up 53-46 as Townsend's go-ahead shot from deep put OU up by 10.
Oakland and Wright State continued to battle back-and-forth as the Golden Grizzlies still found themselves up by seven at 63-56 as OU extended its lead to 11, its largest at that point behind two deep balls from Cain and Moore before the lead evaporated to a tie ball game at 69-69 at 4:15.
Parrish drained his fifth three-pointer of the night (a career high) as the Raiders answered right back to retake the lead at 74-72 out of the final media timeout of the game. With WSU in possession of the ball, the Raiders were able to make a tough turnaround jumper to grab the lead again and followed up with a dunk off the Oakland turnover for the win.
Oakland will have to turn around and prepare for the Northern Kentucky Norse at the Athletics Center O'rena for its next game on Sunday, February 20 at 3:00 p.m.
