ROCHESTER, Mich. - The Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team looks for its third-straight Horizon League win with a matchup against Green Bay Saturday inside the OU Credit Union O'rena, with tip-off set for 3:00 p.m. ET.
The Golden Grizzlies (8-8, 3-2 HL) took care of business in its first home game in nearly a month with a thrilling win over the Milwaukee Panthers, 100-95.
The teams went back-and-forth in the opening 20 before a
Trey Townsend slam dunk capped off a 10-0 run for the Golden Grizzlies to take an early lead, 17-11. The Panthers cut its deficit to two points, but good ball movement turned into good offense for Oakland as it took another six-point lead near the midway point.
Jack Gohlke got on the board as he drilled one from range as the graduate transfer continued his streak of at least one three-pointer in every game this season. Townsend continued his tear down the stretch as he added a few more towards his total to end the first 20 with 17 points and help give the Golden Grizzlies the lead heading into the locker room, 40-35.
Milwaukee eventually erased its halftime deficit and knotted things up at 45 with 17:15 to go in the final 20, but
Chris Conway regained the lead for the Golden Grizzlies with a pair of layups which started a 9-0 run for Oakland, highlighted by a Conway slam and an and-one from Townsend.
The game came down to the wire as the Golden Grizzlies held a narrow lead of two, but
Blake Lampman answered and pushed the team's lead to five with one from deep. The Panthers had an answer as the team made it hard for Oakland to try and pull away. The Golden Grizzlies got a stop as Townsend made one to get to 28 points on the night with under five minutes to go.
Both teams battled back-and-forth as Oakland held on to the lead but, like the whole game, the Panthers continued to push back and made the score 90-85 in favor of Oakland with 2:41 to play. The Golden Grizzlies made it a six-point game, but back-to-back layups from the Panthers made it a two-point game.
The Panthers had to resort to fouls as
Rocket Watts converted on his two to make it a four-point game with :20 seconds to go, but the Panthers came down the floor and rang off a three. A one-point game with :17 seconds to go, Watts controlled the ball and was fouled once again and made his two crucial free throws. One final three came up short for the Panthers as
Isaiah Jones put the game to rest as the Golden Grizzlies hit the century mark, 100-95.
The Golden Grizzlies saw Townsend go 8-of-18 (.444) from the floor and set a season-high 28 points as he brought down eight boards. Jones tied Townsend with a team-high eight boards as he finished with six points. In total, five Oakland players recorded double-digit points as Lampman (19), Watts (14), Conway (12) and Gohlke (10) and Townsend were in double figures.
The second half of the game saw 54 free throws combined on both ends as the Golden Grizzlies held the edge and made 23 while the Panthers made 19. The Golden Grizzlies shot 31-of-65 (.480) from the floor while the Panthers shot 17-of-30 from the floor in the second half for an overall clip of .480 (31-of-64). In total, the Panthers outrebounded the Golden Grizzlies, 38-30, as it had four more offensive and defensive boards.
SCOUTING THE PHOENIX
The Golden Grizzlies look to take the series lead against the Phoenix as both teams sit 12-12 as Oakland evened things up in its last matchup, 59-47, last season. For its third-straight win, the Golden Grizzlies were led by Townsend who recorded a double-double with 23 points (10-of-15 FG) and brought down 12 boards. Lampman and Conway also started in the contest as Conway brought down six boards to go with his eight points, as Lampman sank three from range for his nine points.
Osei Price was the only other current Golden Grizzlies player to see the floor and tallied three points.
The Golden Grizzlies hold a 7-3 record while on its home court but are 5-8 while on the road. The series matchup goes as far back as 2006 where Oakland secured the win, 74-57, before it grabbed two of the next three. Its three-game win streak ties the longest win streak by either team as Green Bay tallied three right before. In total, the Golden Grizzlies narrowly outscore the Phoenix, 76.96-75.54, and the teams are an even 5-5 in its last 10.
Green Bay (9-7, 4-1 HL) beat Detroit Mercy, 69-51, to extend the teams win streak to four in-a-row. The Phoenix opened up its season against Big 12 opponent Iowa State, before it grabbed its first win against NAIA St. Francis (Ill.), 72-56. The Phoenix traded wins and losses before it fell twice in-a-row, to SIUE and Western Illinois, but grabbed four of its next five, with its only loss coming from the hands of nationally ranked Oklahoma, before it faced Detroit Mercy.
In its fourth-straight Horizon League victory, the Phoenix took down the Titans, 69-51, and used a strong first half to carry its lead into the second. Up 34-23 heading into the break, Green Bay only trailed for one minute in the first half and didn't give up its lead following. The Phoenix went up as much as 26 points in the second half after a three capped off a 9-0 run.
The Phoenix are led by Noah Reynolds who averages 18.8 points per game on the season. Reynolds, who was most recently named the Horizon League's Player of the Week (Jan. 2), is 116-of-223 (.520) from the floor with 20 from range as he's dished out 71 assists to date. Elijah Jones eclipsed the 100+ rebound mark and sits at 104 on the season for an average of 6.5 per game.
The team narrowly outscores its opponents, 66.3-65.4, and shoot at a .461 clip from the floor with a .338 clip from range. The Phoenix hold an edge over its opponents off the glass, with a margin of 1.5, and dish out .2 more assists than its opponents.
Tip-off from the OU Credit Union O'rena is slated for 3:00 PM ET Saturday, Jan. 6.
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