ROCHESTER, Mich. - The Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team made a strong push in the second half to comeback but fell short against the Rockets, 69-68, tonight inside the OU Credit Union O'rena.
 
The Golden Grizzlies (5-5, 1-1 HL) welcomed back Blake Lampman, who hasn't seen action since Illinois (Nov. 10) due to injury, in a big way after he sank his first three shots from behind the arc and finished the game with 14 points in 28 minutes. Trey Townsend tied Lampman for the team lead in points as he grabbed six off the glass.
 
The Rockets (4-4, 0-0 MAC) saw four players record double-digit points as Tyler Cochran led the game with 20 points to go with his five rebounds with forward Javan Simmons who led the game with eight rebounds.
 
The Rockets got to a quick lead after back-to-back threes pushed the game to 10-4. After a jumper made it 12-4, Lampman knocked down not one from beyond the arc, and not two, but three-straight threes with no misses to make the O'rena erupt and cut the deficit to three.
 
After two made free throws from the Rockets, Jack Gohlke came down the floor and nailed a three of his own to make it a two-point game. Toledo put its lead to four, but the momentum was in favor of the Golden Grizzlies. DQ Cole quickly made a layup on the fastbreak, followed by Isaiah Jones to tie the game, as Townsend capped off the 6-0 run with a steal and slam to give Oakland its first lead of the game.
 
Toledo knotted things up, but Oakland rattled off, once again, the next six points to put the team ahead, 30-24. The Golden Grizzlies kept things moving after Gohlke recovered a loose ball and swung it along the baseline to Cole who muscled up for a jumper.
 
The Rockets rang off four-straight to cut the Golden Grizzlies lead to four, but Oakland remained in the lead after the first 20, 36-32.
 
Lampman led the charge for the Golden Grizzlies with his 11 points (4-of-9 FG) with three makes from downtown. Cole followed suit with his eight and grabbed three boards off the glass, tied for most on the team with Gohlke. The Rockets shot better than the Golden Grizzlies in the first 20, 57.1% compared to 51.6%, but the Golden Grizzlies saw more shots drop with 16 makes from the field and four from range. Oakland didn't make any trips to the line in the first half while five of Toledo's points came from the free throw line. The Golden Grizzlies dominated the offensive glass with six to edge the Rockets in the rebound category, 12-10.
 
The Rockets made adjustments in the locker room and came out firing as Toledo scored the first eight points to pull ahead, 42-36. Chris Conway halted the run, but the Rockets scored four more for a 12-2 run to open the half. The Rockets continued to pile on and extended its lead to 12, at 50-38, as the Golden Grizzlies only scored two points in the opening six minutes.
 
The Golden Grizzlies didn't lose hope, however, as Gohlke got things started with back-to-back makes from downtown and drew a foul on his second to complete the four-point play. Townsend kept it rolling with a hook shot in the paint to make it 54-49 in favor of the Rockets.
 
Two makes from the line put Toledo up seven, but the duo of Gohlke and Lampman contributed back-to-back threes to bring the Golden Grizzlies all the way back to down one. Two from the charity stripe from Townsend gave Oakland its first lead since the start of the half, but the Toledo layup gave it right back to the Rockets.
 
The Golden Grizzlies' Rocket, Rocket Watts, drilled one from three to make it a 60-58 ballgame in favor of Oakland. Toledo squared it away at 60 but Conway drew the foul to put the Golden Grizzlies in the bonus and made both for the lead once again, but the Rockets tied it up.
 
With 2:30 left, both teams went back-and-forth with a few misses before Townsend got sent to the line and put the Golden Grizzlies up two with 1:40 to play. Toledo came right down the court and put itself ahead with one from beyond the arc as Gohlke nearly answered, but the ball spun around the rim and rang out. A loose ball gave Oakland possession where Townsend made the layup to go ahead one, but Toledo answered with :46 seconds left.
 
Oakland couldn't convert its following possession and forced Toledo to make its free throws down the stretch. Two makes put Oakland down three as Jones caught a missed shot and layed it in to make it 69-68, Toledo. Toledo missed the front end of the one-and-one to give the Golden Grizzlies one last shot to take the game. Oakland had one last look but couldn't convert at the buzzer and fell, 69-68.
 
The Golden Grizzlies went 10-of-30 from the floor in the second half to put its total field goal percentage at a clip of .426. Oakland played strong d in the second half and lowered the Rockets overall field goal percentage to 47.1% after its 54.5% in the first half. Oakland narrowly beat out Toledo on the glass, 29 compared to 28, as the Golden Grizzlies attributed 24 points off the bench.
 
The Golden Grizzlies have a quick turnaround as it hits the road Friday, Dec. 8 with a tilt against Eastern Michigan. 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.