ROCHESTER, Mich. - In their first conference game of the season, the Golden Grizzlies came away victorious against the Wright State Raiders, 66-64, tonight inside the OU Credit Union O'rena.

For the Golden Grizzlies (3-4, 1-0 HL), Allen Mukeba led the team in scoring with 16 points while also bringing in seven rebounds. Buru Naivalurua and Jayson Woodrich also came up big for Oakland, pouring in 14 and 12 points, respectively.

On the other side of the court, the Raiders (5-5, 0-1 HL) scored by committee, as three different Raiders, Alex Huibregtse, Solomon Callaghan and Andrew Welage, each tallied 12 points.

Oakland got on the scoreboard first as Mukeba bullied his way down into the paint for a tough layup. On the next possession, Woodrich was left alone for a three-point try, which braced the net, putting the Golden Grizzlies up 5-0 early.

Midway through the first, Oakland continued to rain in buckets on offense. DQ Cole created space with a big step-back three, giving the Golden Grizzlies their first double-digit lead of the night with an early score of 17-5.

Despite the Golden Grizzlies' hot start, the Raiders started to find their rhythm on offense, scoring 11 unanswered points as Wright State's Callaghan erased the Oakland lead with a three-pointer.

Still, it didn't rattle the Golden Grizzlies, who quickly regained their lead in the game's following minutes before ending the first with a huge buzzer-beater corner three from Naivalurua, his first three of the season, putting Oakland up 37-34 heading into the half.

At the break, the Raiders had the edge over the Golden Grizzlies in field-goal percentage, converting 12 of their 25 attempts (.480) compared to Oakland's 13 makes on 29 tries (.448). However, Oakland held a significant advantage on the boards, snagging seven more rebounds than Wright State with 18.

To start the second, the Golden Grizzlies wasted no time getting things going on offense. After a deep three from Woodrich, Naivalurua knocked down a turnaround jumper as the Oakland lead grew.

However, the Raiders hung around as Huibregtse and Welage converted their attempts from beyond the arc, ushering in a competitive second half of action.

After Wright State took their first lead of the second off a Huibregtse three, Cole buried a deep three to give the Golden Grizzlies their lead back on the next possession with just over five minutes remaining in the game. 

With just a few seconds left in the game and Oakland in the driver's seat with a two-point lead, Jaylen Jones tipped a Raiders pass out of bounds, leaving Wright State with no chance to get the go-ahead basket off, giving the Golden Grizzlies the win.

At the end of the game, Oakland still had the rebound advantage over Wright State, outrebounding the Raiders 35-29. Additionally, the Golden Grizzlies were a force to be reckoned with defensively, tallying more blocks (three-to-two) and steals (nine-to-two) than the Raiders. 

Up next, the Golden Grizzlies will look to keep their win streak alive on the road against the Youngstown State Penguins on Saturday, Dec. 7. The game will be live-streamed on ESPN+, with tip-off slated for 2:00 p.m. 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.