CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Oakland men's basketball team returned to play after holiday break and fell to Cleveland State, 75-67, tonight inside the Wolstein Center.
 
The Golden Grizzlies (6-8, 1-2 HL) saw four players record double-digit points with Chris Conway who led the team with 14 points. Trey Townsend was close behind with 13 points and recorded his 13th career double-double with 12 rebounds. Blake Lampman and Rocket Watts followed suit with 12 and 11 points.
 
The Vikings (9-5, 2-1 HL) also had four players with double figure points as Drew Lowder had a game-high 15 points off five makes from the floor and three from range.
 
It was a strong defensive effort from both ends of the court as only five points total were scored in the first five minutes of play. At 2-2, Cleveland State got on the board first before Jack Gohlke dished out a pass from the arc to Conway who laid one in before the Vikings converted from the charity stripe.
 
The Vikings went up, 5-2, but Lampman drew a foul on a turnaround jumper and converted on the three-point play to knot things up at five apiece. However, eight-straight points from the Vikings, including two-straight from downtown, quickly put the Golden Grizzlies down, 11-5. A field goal from the Vikings was followed up by Watts who drained a three to make it 13-8 in favor of the Vikings.
 
The Vikings grew its lead to 20-9 before Conway brought the team's deficit to single digits with two from the charity stripe. After a brief delay due to a lighting issue inside the Wolstein Center, the Vikings scored another three to put its lead to 24-13. The Vikings continued to press on the gas and went on a 14-0 run to extend its lead to 35-13.
 
The Golden Grizzlies looked to ease its deficit after Osei Price nailed a three, followed by a Watts two and a pair of free throws from Watts, but the Vikings answered the 7-0 run with a three pointer. Tone Hunter made one final free throw for the last points of the half as the Golden Grizzlies went into the locker room down, 41-23.
 
The Golden Grizzlies came out of the gate hot, specifically Townsend, who scored the first four points of the second half, followed by Lampman with a dunk to bring it down to a 12-point game. The Vikings ended the quick run with a three but the Golden Grizzlies came roaring back and eventually cut its deficit back to single digits. Townsend and Conway added field goals before Gohlke sank one from deep followed by an Isaiah Jones two.
 
Now at 44-38, the Golden Grizzlies inched closer to taking its first lead of the game. The Vikings grabbed a trio of points, but another and-one from Lampman made it a six-point game once again. The Vikings answered the three-point play with a pair of three's before Tuburu Naivalurua put one in.
 
Watts and the Golden Grizzlies cut its 18-point deficit all the way down to four in the second half with a make from downtown at 58-54 with 5:11 left to go. The Vikings continued to hang on to its lead, but the Golden Grizzlies always had an answer to keep it close as Lampman made a jumper for two.
 
With under 3:00 to go, Oakland was in crunch time to pull ahead of the contest. However, the Vikings pulled ahead to a 10-point lead with under a minute to go to make it difficult for an Oakland comeback. Gohlke made a late three to make it 72-65, but it was too late as the Vikings went on to win, 75-67.
 
In total, the Golden Grizzlies went 24-of-65 (.369) from the floor with five from downtown and 14 of its points came from the free throw line. Both teams were equal off the board as Oakland held an edge on the offensive side with 17. The Vikings went 25-of-57 (.439) from the floor with 12 makes from range.
 
Oakland is back in action on New Year's Eve day on the road against Youngstown State at 2:30 p.m. at the Beeghly Center. All Oakland games this season will be live streamed through audio via The Bet1270 AM (WXYT-AM) & the Audacy App with Neal Ruhl on the call.