ROCHESTER, Mich. - The Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team looks to ride its year-end win against Youngstown State into the new year as it plays host to Milwaukee Thursday inside the OU Credit Union O'rena, with tip-off set for 7:00 p.m. ET.
The Golden Grizzlies (7-8, 2-2 HL) took care of business on New Year's Eve and took down Youngstown State on the road, 88-81.
Oakland grabbed the first points of the game, courtesy of
Chris Conway, but the Penguins had an answer. Youngstown State was lethal from beyond the arc as it continued to make from range to keep pace with the Golden Grizzlies as the game went back-and-forth. It wasn't until the Penguins went on a 10-0 run to put itself up seven, but Conway put it to a halt followed by a layup and a foul on
Blake Lampman to cut it back to two.
The Penguins kept it rolling from range and made its eighth three in the first to bump it to 36-31 followed by another. One last possession for Oakland before the buzzer fell short as the team went into the locker room down, 39-35.
The Penguins opened on a 6-2 run, capped by another three, but Lampman came down the floor and answered with not one, not two, but three from downtown to give the Golden Grizzlies a 47-46 lead in the second half. The Penguins knotted things up but Lampman and the Golden Grizzlies kept it coming as it put on a clinic from downtown and made three straight with
DQ Cole capping it off with one of his own.
The Penguins finally answered with a three, but the Golden Grizzlies kept it rolling as Cole sank another from range, followed by a
Trey Townsend layup. Youngstown State managed to cut into Oakland's lead to make it a four-point game, but the Golden Grizzlies kept up as
Jack Gohlke eventually made it a nine-point game with Oakland's 12th make from range.
Lampman drained his seventh from downtown and his 24th point, good for new career bests in both categories, as he bumped the Golden Grizzlies lead to double digits with 4:46 to play. The Penguins continued to hang around and make its shots, but Oakland's lead was too big for Youngstown State as the Golden Grizzlies got back into the win category, 88-81.
Lampman led the Golden Grizzlies with a personal best 26 points and set a new career high in both field goals made (8-of-15) and makes from downtown (7-of-13). Followed by Lampman was Conway who went 7-of-11 (.636) from the floor and Townsend who recorded his second-straight double-double with 15 points and 10 boards.
Contrary to the first half, where the Penguins had the edge from downtown, the Golden Grizzlies were lights out from range and went 9-of-13 (.692) as the Penguins only made three from deep. At a clip of .625 from the floor (15-of-24), Oakland finished at a .558 clip from the field (29-of-52) and shot 52.0% from range (13-of-25). Oakland dominated the glass and totaled 34 total boards, 10 more than the Penguins.
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
The Golden Grizzlies hold a slight edge in the series against the Panthers with a 12-10 record and look to get back on the right foot after it fell in its previous matchup Feb. 11, 2023, on the road in overtime, 80-77. Townsend led the Golden Grizzlies in the loss with 21 points (8-of-18 FG) with three boards, as Lampman and Conway also finished with double figures in 18 and 10 points.
Osei Price also saw action in the game as only six total Golden Grizzlies saw the floor with Price being the only one off the bench.
Prior to that, the teams went back-and-forth and traded wins and losses since the 2020-21 season and are an even 5-5 in its last 10. Oakland fares well on its home court, with a 7-3 record, and haven't dropped a home game since 2019. On average, the Golden Grizzlies score 76.4 points compared to the Panthers 75.5 points.
The Panthers (7-7, 2-1 HL), who are coming off a win against Wright State, ride a three-game win streak and haven't dropped a game since Dec. 13. Milwaukee opened up its season with a win over Stout, but was followed up by two-straight losses with the latter against nationally-ranked Colorado. The team followed it up with a win against Luther College followed by a loss against Stetson before it grabbed its first Division I win of the season against Siena at the Sunshine Slam, 61-59. The team's current three-game win streak was preceded by a 1-4 record with its sole win against UC Davis, 81-79.
In its 91-83 win against Wright State to improve to 2-1 in Horizon League action, the Panthers were down at half, 41-36, but used a big surge in the second half to lead the team to a win. Milwaukee continued to cut into Wright State's lead before it eventually took the lead with 13:34 to go in the game and didn't look back. The Panthers built its lead to as much as 15 with just under three minutes to go which was a task too large for Wright State as Milwaukee scored 55 in the second half for the win.
The Panthers saw three players have double-digit point nights with BJ Freeman who led the charge with 23 points off the bench and tied a team-high six rebounds. Kentrell Pullian (20 pts) and Erik Pratt (15 pts) followed along as Darius Duffy tied Freeman with his six boards. Those three are also the only three on the Panthers that average double figures in points on the year as Freeman leads the way with 20.0 points per game, followed by Pratt with 12.3 and Pullian with 11.0. Freeman also leads the team off the glass with 5.6 rebounds per game.
The Panthers opponents hold a slight edge over the team with a scoring margin of -1.9 as Milwaukee averages 76.2 points per game. From the floor, the Panthers shoot at a .425 clip and .325 from range with an average of 8.9 threes per game. Off the glass, Milwaukee grabs 36.4 rebounds opposed to its opponents 37.5.
Tip-off from the OU Credit Union O'rena is slated for 7:00 PM ET Thursday, Jan. 4.
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