GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands – The Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team played tough against the Bulldogs in its first game of the Cayman Islands Classic but came up short, 85-77, inside the John Gray Gymnasium today.
 
The Golden Grizzlies (1-3, 0-0 HL) were led by Rocket Watts with 23 points, tying his career-high, and tacked on two boards. Trey Townsend nearly had a double-double with nine boards to go along with his 11 points. The ball was distributed well amongst Oakland as four Golden Grizzlies had double-digit point games as Chris Conway had 12, followed by a season-high 11 points from Tuburu Naivalurua.
 
The Bulldogs (3-0, 0-0 MVC) had two players with 20+ points, Kevin Overton and Atin Wright, who both had 22. Overton tallied five from deep (5-of-10) and shot 8-of-15 from the floor. Tucker DeVries, Drake's standout guard, only totaled five points on the day with just one made basket.
 
The Golden Grizzlies jumped to a quick 5-0 lead with some help from Conway and a shot from deep by Jack Gohlke. The Bulldogs answered the bell with a three of its own, but Gohlke came right back down the floor and sank another three.
 
Oakland put the pressure on and converted off a pair of turnovers, but the theme early on were shots from beyond the arc. In the opening five minutes, a total of seven threes were made and the Golden Grizzlies four (.667) made up 12 of its first 18.
 
The Golden Grizzlies took an eight-point lead at 21-13, but the Bulldogs came down the floor and went on an 8-0 run to take a slight lead. Drake initially struggled against the zone defense but found its groove with back-to-back threes, one of which off a turnover, followed by a layup after another turnover put Drake in front, 22-21. Watts put an end to the run which ignited a quick 5-0 run to regain the Golden Grizzlies lead after the halfway mark.
 
Drake put it back at a tie ballgame at 26 apiece but struggled to pull away as Oakland continued to answer. DQ Cole sank his first three of the game and helped the Golden Grizzlies take the lead and was followed by Watts who drove in hard to get the bucket and the foul. Isaiah Jones took the ball into the hole and sank one from the floor, but Drake ran right back down the court and put one through to take a lead headed into the locker room, 37-36.
 
After 20, the Golden Grizzlies were led by Watts who was one of three players, and the only Oakland player, to finish the half with double-digit points with 14. From the floor, the Golden Grizzlies shot 12-of-25 (.480) with five from deep and tacked on seven from the charity stripe. Oakland won the battle on the glass with six more boards than Drake but struggled turning the ball over with 11 total turnovers. DeVries, who averaged 28.5 heading into the game, was shut down by the Golden Grizzlies, but Kevin Overton took his place who led his team with 12 points. Oakland was better on the floor than Drake as the Bulldogs were 15-of-36 (.417) but sank seven threes. With no shooting fouls committed, Drake never made its way to the line in the first half.
 
Townsend, who was quiet in the first half, got things rolling in the second half after a basket and one. Watts continued his stellar game and drained another three but was reciprocated by a Bulldog three. Drake continued to shoot from range and took a three-point lead, its largest lead of the game, but Townsend quickly cut it to one with under 13:00 to go.
 
Some missed opportunities for the Golden Grizzlies put the Bulldogs at front who seemed to find its footing from the floor. Drake looked to move ahead after it took a five-point lead twice but Oakland didn't count itself out and hung in with the Bulldogs.
 
Naivalurua upped the pressure for the Bulldogs after he went up strong with a dunk followed by a layup to knot things at 59, but Drake was able to answer the bell. Oakland came within two of the Bulldogs with under five to play, 70-68, but seven-straight points by Drake forced the Golden Grizzlies to play from behind late.
 
With :45 seconds to go, Townsend forced a halfcourt steal and handed the ball off to Gohlke from downtown to cut it to a six-point game. The Golden Grizzlies forced the Bulldogs to make its free throws, which it did, and put the game to rest, 85-77.
 
The Golden Grizzlies had trouble from deep in the second half and only made two threes (2-of-11) but performed better from the field at a 54.5% clip. In total, Oakland shot better than 50% from the floor (30-of-58) with 10 points accounted for from the free throw line. The Bulldogs also shot well from the floor in the second half and went 15-of-29 with five three pointers added on. The Golden Grizzlies shot better from the field than the Bulldogs (.462) but its 12 threes were the difference maker.
 
The Golden Grizzlies continue the Cayman Islands Classic and will face either Loyola Marymount or Stephen F. Austin tomorrow (Nov. 20) at 11 a.m. ET in the consolation bracket. Tomorrow's game will be livestreamed on FloHoops.