ROCHESTER, Mich. - The Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team continues on in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic as it'll face off against Oregon State, with a trip to the championship game on the line, tomorrow (Dec. 23) with tip-off set for 8:00 p.m. ET.
The Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, which takes place inside SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, is a bracket-style tournament consisting of eight teams. Those teams include: Oakland, Loyola Chicago, Oregon State, Charleston, Nebraska, Murray State, Charlotte and Hawai'i. The tournament will take place Dec. 22-25 and all Oakland games will be streamed live on ESPN2 or ESPNU along with all Oakland games live streamed through audio via 91.1HD-3, The Bet1270 AM (WXYT-AM) and the Audacy App with Neal Ruhl on the call.
The Golden Grizzlies (3-7, 1-2 HL) narrowly escaped with a victory over Loyola Chicago in the quarterfinal round, as
Isaiah Jones hit a game-winning layup with .3 seconds to play. Oakland led for the majority of the game, building a double-digit lead late, but Loyola surged back with an 11-point run to take a 71-70 lead with :21 seconds left. After a missed Oakland shot, I. Jones secured an offensive rebound and scored the decisive basket just before the buzzer to lift Oakland, 72-71.
Allen Mukeba leads the Golden Grizzlies in scoring with 13.2 points per game, as both
DQ Cole and
Buru Naivalurua average double-digit points with 12.6 and 10.9, respectively. Naivalurua leads the team off the glass, as he accounts for 7.4 per game, to go along with Oakland's 34.5 total rebounds per game. As a whole, Oakland scores 63.5 points per game and gives up 70.3 points per game, and shoots at a .410 clip from the floor with 7.3 threes made per game.
DATE: Dec. 23
OPPONENT: Oregon State
LOCATION: SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center - Honolulu, Hawaii
TIME: 8:00 p.m. ET
LIVE STATS
LIVE STREAM: ESPN2
LIVE AUDIO
GAME NOTES
The Beavers (9-2, 0-0 PAC 12) took care of business in the quarterfinal round of the HADHC against Charleston, 74-65, to advance to the semifinals against Oakland. Oregon State maintained its 35-26 halftime lead and rode with it for the remainder of the game to advance. The Beavers, who currently ride a five-game win streak, have only lost two games this season, by a combined score of six, as it narrowly lost to nationally-ranked Oregon, 78-75.
Tomorrow's game marks the first meeting between the Beavers and the Golden Grizzlies.
Oregon State has a trio of players who average double-digit points, as Michael Rataj leads with 16.6 points per game, shooting .492 from the floor. He, along with three others, are a main core of the Beavers defense who have started in all 11 games, as Rataj also leads the team with 9.3 rebounds per game.
The Beavers defense is stout, as it only gives up 57.6 points per game, while its offense scores 76.5 points per game. As a team, Oregon State shoots at a .491 clip from the floor with a .373 mark from range, while its defense holds its opponents to a .287 mark from downtown and a .368 clip from the floor. Off the glass, the team holds a 7.5 rebounding margin with its 36.9 rebounds per game, as it dishes out 16.0 assists per game.
Tip-off from SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center is slated for 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
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