Columbus, Ohio - The Golden Grizzlies started out their season with an outright battle against the Buckeyes in Columbus.

Oakland came out the gate sharp with back-to-back triples from graduate student guards Jack Gohlke and Blake Lampman gave the Golden Grizzlies an immediate 6-0 lead. 

Lampman caught fire early as he scored six points in as many minutes to begin the contest. Oakland was knocking down everything early, starting off 4-6 from three to boost their lead, doubling up Ohio State's points with a 14-7 lead with 13:47 left to play in the first half.

The Golden Grizzlies took command on offense, attacking the basket drawing fouls or creating open kick-out looks. Oakland drained five straight shots spanning from 15:22 to 10:37 in the first half. Oakland's defense was also stifling to start, forcing the Buckeyes to shoot just 3 -15 from beyond the arc in the opening half, while forcing six turnovers, making it hard for Ohio State to get comfortable in the lane.

Ohio State threatened to take the lead, going on a 6-0 run sparked by a couple of Felix Okpara dunks, using his length to stretch over the Oakland defense. With Oakland up just one (21-20), Gohlke hit his second three of the game to put Oakland up 24-20 with 7:20 left in the first half.

Junior forward Trey Townsend joined in on the action from deep, hitting his first three of the season to put Oakland up 27-21 with 6:40 left in the opening half. Oakland's red-hot start from three was the catalyst for the Oakland lead throughout the first half, going 6-12 from.

As Ohio State clawed back into the game late in the first half, going on an 8-2 run, capped off by a Bruce Thornton triple that gave the Buckeyes their fist lead of the half (34-33) with 2:05 left, but a tough bucket by Townsend retook the Oakland lead with 1:04, giving the Golden Grizzlies the push they needed to go into the half up 35-34.

Townsend led the Golden Grizzlies in the opening half with 11 points (5-7 FG) on a slew of tough midrange shots. Lampman finished the half with eight points (3-4 FG) to join Townsend as Oakland's top first half scorer, showcasing the overall consistency Oakland showed to open the game as they shot 44% from the field (11-25 FG) in the first 20 minutes. DQ Cole was active on the defensive end, snagging two steals and three rebounds early.

Oakland stood tall defensively, but had their work cut out for them in the post to begin the second half as both of their bigs, Aundre Polk and Chris Conway, went into the locker room with three fouls. As Ohio State climbed back, you could tell they were looking to take advantage of the Oakland foul trouble.

Junior guard Tone Hunter came into the second half and made an immediate impact, drawing a charge and following it with a deep triple to give Oakland a big spark to start the half and a four point lead (40-36) with 17:37 left to play.

Oakland was forced to play small for the rest of the half, running lineups with Townsend and sophomore Isaiah Jones as their front court with both Conway and Polk picking up their fourth fouls within five minutes in the second half.

Both teams put on a three-point shooting exhibition to start the second half, ad they traded triples back and forth. Ohio State tied the game at 44 with a spot up corner triple with 13:09 left, but Cole and Gohlke would respond with threes of their own to put Oakland up six (50-44) 11:37, only for Thornton to hit his second from beyond the arc to cut the Oakland lead back down to three (50-47).

Ohio State found their rhythm, pushing the pace and relying on  guard Roddy Gayle Jr. as he scored eight straight points, followed by a pair of free throws from Zed Key, as Ohio State went on a 10-0 run to take a 58-52 lead with 7:16 left in the game, shifting the momentum of the game.

Oakland responded from deep, just as they had done the whole game, as Gohlke knocked down back-to-back off balance threes to cut the Ohio State lead to two (60-62) with 6:02 remaining.

Oakland kept their defense sharp, rotating and creating deflections, and applying heavy ball pressure, something they showcased in their exhibition against Wayne State. Ohio State was able to find pockets of opportunity, and after a rough shooting first half they went a much improved _-_ from deep in the second half, including a Thronton corner triple that was the dagger for Ohio State as they went up 71-67 with two minutes left.

With time waining away, Oakland tried to make one last surge towards a victory as Lampman knocked down his third three of the night, cutting the Ohio State lead to four (70-74) with 33 seconds left. He followed with another hit from beyond, keeping Oakland in position for a miracle ending as they were down just three (73-76) with 21 seconds left. As Oakland put on the full cort press, it served to be too little, too late, as Oakland fell in a heart-breaking loss 79-73.