ROCHESTER, Mich. – Fourth-seed Northern Kentucky handed Oakland an 81-74 loss as the Golden Grizzlies bowed out of the Barbasol #HLMBB Tournament on Thursday in Highland Heights, Kentucky at Truist Arena.

About 2:36 into the game, Oakland's first bucket by Trey Townsend put points on the scoreboard as the team saw themselves down 4-2 in a fairly packed Truist Arena. The Norse's three-point shooting streak from less than a week ago picked up with Oakland down 8-5 with 16:43 to go in the half.

A Keaton Hervey pair of free throws and a Blake Lampman three pulled NKU back in at 16:08 the three-point shooting onslaught by the Norse picked up again. Oakland stared up at the scoreboard down by eight with 12:08 remaining as jumpers by Townsend and Hervey preceded Jalen Moore's opening deep ball. 

Hervey's layup brought the lead back within three at 7:35, eventually getting down to one by another Lampman triple at 29-28 with 5:55 on the clock.

How about we go back-to-back from deep?? pic.twitter.com/FBRYJzbrXC

— Oakland Basketball (@OaklandMBB) March 3, 2023

NKU answered by putting up seven unanswered points as time started to wind down in the half with a 36-28 lead. Osei Price had a deep ball fall after a single free throw by Townsend, pulling the Norse within four before the home white jerseys bagged a three and a jumper to go into the break with momentum and the lead at 41-32.

An 11-point lead broke open for NKU as Townsend pulled it back down to single digits via his pair of free throws at 18:21, scoring on the subsequent possessions with a layup and a three-pointer that rolled around every inch of the rim.

With 17:47 left in regulation, NKU's Marques Warrick shut down the Oakland streak and brought the home crowd to its feet. Both Townsend and Hervey had the game within three points off the pair's jumpers in the paint.

A triple by the grad student, Hervey, knotted the game up at 53-53 before the Norse answered with back-to-back threes of their own.

COOL HAND KEATON pic.twitter.com/3ZulRBgSsG

— Oakland Basketball (@OaklandMBB) March 3, 2023

With 5:16 to go, Northern Kentucky had swelled the lead back up to ten points at 66-56 with Jalen Moore taking the game over on Oakland's side of the ball, scoring 15 points within that span to double zeros on the clock.

Northern Kentucky maintained a steady six to seven-point edge down the stretch as the LED lights around the arena in Highland Heights illuminated the clapping crowd as Oakland's 2022-23 season came to an end 81-74.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Moore played every last second of the game, leading the team with 21 points
• Townsend and Hervey concluded the season with 19 and 15 points, respectively
• Hervey also played all 40 minutes with seven boards to lead the squad
• Oakland had 14 points off NKU's 10 turnovers, Lampman had two steals
• The Golden Grizzlies were a perfect 12-12 from the free throw line in the second half

The Golden Grizzlies end the season with a 13-19 overall record, 11-9 in #HLMBB play.