ROCHESTER, Mich. - The Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team is set to take part in its second Horizon League Tournament Championship game since joining the league and will look for an automatic qualifying berth into the NCAA Tournament as it's set to face the Panthers tonight inside the Indiana Farmers Coliseum, with tip-off set for 7:00 p.m. ET.
 
The Golden Grizzlies (22-11, 15-5 HL) held on against the Vikings in its semifinal matchup to earn a spot in the championship game, 74-71. DQ Cole and Jack Gohlke both tallied 20+ points, as the Golden Grizzlies pulled away slightly after the game was knotted up at 38 at half.
 
Oakland grew its lead to as much as 11, but the Vikings clawed back to tie the game but never took the lead. The Vikings made it a two-point game with a shot from the free throw line and purposefully missed it to try and tie things up, but Trey Townsend brought down the board to secure the win.
 
CHAMPIONSHIP-BOUND GOLDEN GRIZZLIES
The Golden Grizzlies look for its first championship win in the Horizon League Tournament as it's making its second appearance since joining the league. In its sole championship game, the Golden Grizzlies fell, 80-69, to Cleveland State at the 2021 tournament.
 
The team will look for its fourth NCAA Tournament berth as its other three have come when the team competed in the Summit League. In total, the Golden Grizzlies have made the conference championship game at the Division I level six times and hold a 3-3 record. Along with the loss in 2021, the Golden Grizzlies fell in 2007 to Oral Roberts, along with a finals loss to North Dakota State in 2009. The Golden Grizzlies first made the big dance in 2005 after it beat Oral Roberts in the finals as a seven-seed, followed by back-to-back berths in 2010 and 2011, both as the no. 1 seed and regular season champs in the Summit League Tournament, as it took down IUPUI and Oral Roberts.
 
ALL-LEAGUE
Trey Townsend, Jack Gohlke and Blake Lampman all earned All-League honors as Townsend became the fourth Oakland player to earn Horizon League Player of the Year since joining the Horizon League. He joins the list of Jamal Cain, Kendrick Nunn and Kay Felder, all of which have played in the NBA, as Cain last won in 2022. Townsend also earned a First Team All-League nod. Gohlke became the second Golden Grizzly to earn Horizon League Sixth Man of the Year as Max Hooper earned the award in 2016, the same year Felder earned Player of the Year. To round it out, Lampman was named to the second team for the first time of his career.
 
EIGHTEEN YEARS AND COUNTING
Trey Townsend, who earned First Team All-League, became the 18th Golden Grizzly in-a-row to receive first team honors as only Gonzaga has a longer streak.
 
RECORD WATCH
Jack Gohlke ranks sixth in the Golden Grizzlies single season record book for most three-point field goals made with 116, as Travis Bader (2013-14) leads with 147. Reggie Hamilton (2011-12) is ahead of him in fifth with 118. He also sits fifth in three-point field goals per game with 3.5 and fourth in three-point field goal attempts with 315, as Erik Kangas (2008-09) is ahead of him with 324.
 
Graduate student Blake Lampman set the all-time school record against Detroit Mercy on March 2 for most games played in a Golden Grizzlies uniform with 138 and currently has 140. He's also in the fifth spot career wise in three-point field goals made with 274, as Brad Buddenborg (1998-02) is ahead in fourth with 286, while Lampman is third in attempts with 824, as Erik Kangas (2005-09) is ahead with 861 attempts.
 
Trey Townsend has played and started in 126 games to date, which puts him t-2nd in the Oakland record book for most games started and is fourth overall in the books in minutes played with 4,376. In games started, Townsend is tied with Keith Benson (2007-11), while Corey Petros (2011-15) is in third in minutes played with 4516. The senior also finds himself seventh overall in offensive rebounds (274, Jalen Hayes (2013-18) is sixth with 280), fourth in defensive rebounds (579, Corey Petros (2011-15) in third with 664) and seventh in total rebounds (853, Ronald Brown (1969-73) in sixth with 866). He's also eighth in career double-doubles with 18, one behind John Henderson (1985-89) who has 19.
 
1K Club
The Golden Grizzlies have four players with 1000 career NCAA points (Townsend - 1653, Gohlke - 1127, Watts - 1017, Lampman - 1003) which is t-9th in the NCAA for most active 1000 point scorers on the same team as St. John's (NY) leads with six. Watts and Lampman recorded their 1000th career-point in the same game.
 
DQ Cole amassed 1145 points in his career prior to joining the Golden Grizzlies, with Schoolcraft Community College and Henry Ford College, that both compete in the National Junior College Athletic Association level. Although NJCAA points don't count towards NCAA career point totals, Cole is nearing the 1500-point club as he currently sits with 1438.
  
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
The Golden Grizzlies swept its season series against the Panthers (20-14, 12-8 HL) in narrow wins, as it won on its home court (Jan. 4), 100-95, and won in double overtime at Milwaukee (Jan. 27), 91-87, as Oakland became the first Horizon League school during the season to get a win on the road in Wisconsin. Townsend led the team between the two games with 49 points and 19 points, while Kentrell Pullian led the Panthers with 48 points. In the double overtime win, Gohlke notched his 1000-career point off a three to tie the game to send it into overtime as he came up big in the extra period as he forced a second overtime with a three with :36 seconds to go as it went on to win the tight game.
 
This marks the first time the Golden Grizzlies and the Panthers will face off in the Horizon League tournament as it's Milwaukee's eighth time in the championship game. The four-time champions last one in 2014 to go along with its 2003, 2005 and 2006 wins, as it hasn't made it to the finals since 2017.
 
The Panthers are led by BJ Freeman, the Horizon League Second-Team honoree, as he averages 21.4 points per game and shoots at a .425 clip. He also leads the team in rebounds per game with 6.8, where Faizon Fields leads the team in total boards with 218.
 
The team narrowly outscores its opposition, 79.6-78.5, as it shoots at a .446 clip from the floor with 8.03 threes made per game. The team outrebounds its opponents as it brings down 39.0 per game compared to its opponents 35.8.
 
Tip-off from the Indiana Farmers Coliseum is slated for 7:00 PM ET Tuesday, March. 12. Today's game will be streamed live on ESPN along with The Bet1270 AM (WXYT-AM) & the Audacy App with Neal Ruhl on the call.
 
FOLLOW OAKLAND
Stay up to date on everything Oakland basketball via social media platforms. Follow our Instagram and Twitter at @OaklandMBB.