ROCHESTER, Mich. - The Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team hosts the quarterfinal round of the Horizon League Championship Tournament as it hosts 8-seed Purdue Fort Wayne inside the OU Credit Union O'rena, with tip-off set for 7:00 p.m. ET.
 
The Golden Grizzlies (20-11, 15-5 HL) took care of business on senior night against in-state rival Detroit Mercy, 75-70. With the win, the Golden Grizzlies won the outright Horizon League Regular Season title for the first time as it won a share in 2017.
 
The Titans grabbed an early lead as it remained ahead for most of the first half. Oakland grabbed a slim one-point lead twice in the first 20 but the Titans always had an answer as it went into the locker room up by four. The Titans remained ahead in the second half as it grew its lead to as much as seven. The Golden Grizzlies clawed back, however, and chipped away at the lead before it went ahead near the midway point.
 
Chris Conway led the charge in the comeback as he sank a layup with a foul, followed by a dunk which started an Oakland 11-0 run. The Titans cut the game close as it made it a one-point twice, but Trey Townsend hit the go-ahead and-one with :17 seconds left.
 
Three Golden Grizzlies were in the double figures for points as Blake Lampman led the team with 20 points. Oakland shot at a .490 clip from the floor and added eight from range.
 
HORIZON LEAGUE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
The Golden Grizzlies look for its first quarterfinal win in the Horizon League Tournament since 2021. Oakland has only made it to the championship game once (2021) as it fell to Cleveland State. As the number one seed, the Golden Grizzlies face the lowest-remaining seed from the first round in Purdue Fort Wayne, which took place Tuesday (March 5) which involved seeds 6-11. Youngstown earned the two seed and will face Cleveland State, while Green Bay is the three seed and will face Milwaukee as Wright State and Northern Kentucky, the four and five seed, face each other. The winners advance to the semifinals which take place Monday, March 11 in Indianapolis, followed by the championship game the following day (March 12) in Indianapolis as well.
 
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 eighth in the Golden Grizzlies single season record book for most three-point field goals made with 107, as Travis Bader (2013-14) leads with 147. Ahead of him in seventh is Jaevin Cumberland (2018-19) and Erik Kangas (2006-07) with 109. He also sits fifth in three-point field goals per game with 3.5 and fifth in three-point field goal attempts with 296, as Travis Bader (2011-12) is ahead of him with 314.
 
Graduate student Blake Lampman set the all-time school record against Detroit Mercy Saturday (March 2) for most games played in a Golden Grizzlies uniform with 138. He's also in the fifth spot career wise in three-point field goals made with 272, as Brad Buddenborg (1998-02) is ahead in fourth with 286, while Lampman is fourth in attempts with 811, as Jason Rozycki (1998-02) is ahead with 819 attempts.
 
Trey Townsend has played and started in 124 games to date, which puts him third in the Oakland record book for most games started and is fourth overall in the books in minutes played with 4,302. In games started, Keith Benson (2007-11) is ahead of him in second with 126, while Corey Petros (2011-15) is in third in minutes played with 4516. The senior also finds himself seventh overall in offensive rebounds (270, Jalen Hayes (2013-18) is sixth with 280), fourth in defensive rebounds (564, Corey Petros (2011-15) in third with 664) and eighth in total rebounds (834, Derrick Nelson (2005-08, '09-10) in seventh with 849). 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-6th in the NCAA for most active 1000-point scorers on the same team. St. John's (NY) leads with six, as Auburn, James Madison, TCU and Villanova have five. 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 1404.
 
SCOUTING THE MASTODONS
The Golden Grizzlies split the season series against the Mastodons (21-11, 11-9 HL) as each team got a win on the opponents home court. The Mastodons were lights out when it visited the blacktop this December as it shot at a .724 clip from the field in the second half for its .667 clip game total. The team also shot 7-for-10 (.700) from range in the second half for a .654 clip from three overall.
 
Oakland evened the season series in February as it used a 10-point halftime lead and a game-high 23-point effort from Gohlke to win on the road, 71-63. Opposite to when the team played at the O'rena, the Mastodons shot at a .411 clip from the field and only a .321 clip from range. Oakland held the lead throughout the first half and second before the Mastodons gained a lead with under 10:00 minutes to play. Oakland eventually retook its lead with 3:13 to play and held on to beat the Mastodons.
 
This marks the first time these two teams will face each other in the Horizon League Tournament. In the regular season, Oakland is 7-5 inside the OU Credit Union O'rena but has dropped its last three on the blacktop, with its last win in 2017.
 
The Mastodons are led by Jalen Jackson and Rasheed Bello, both named Third Team All-League, as Jackson averages 16.2 points per game while Bello scores 14.9 per game. Eric Mulder holds the team lead in rebounds with 222 total boards, good for 7.2 rebounds per game.
 
Purdue Fort Wayne outscored its opponents, on average, by 10.1 points as it scored 81.4 points per game. The team shoots at a .473 clip from the floor but gets outrebounded, 37.3-32.4.
 
Tip-off from the OU Credit Union O'rena for the quarterfinal game is slated for 7:00 PM ET Thursday, March. 7.
 
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