ROCHESTER, Mich. - Despite some heroic plays down the stretch, the Oakland men's basketball team fell to the Youngstown State Penguins, 84-75, tonight inside the OU Credit Union O'Rena.

Allen Mukeba led the Golden Grizzlies (10-15, 7-7 HL) in scoring, notching 18 points while snagging 10 rebounds for a double-double. In addition to Mukeba, Buru Naivalurua had a great showing, recording 17 points and seven rebounds.

For the Penguins (15-10, 9-5), EJ Farmer led the way with 25 points, while Juwan Maxey put up 19 points and four rebounds. Nico Galette led Youngstown State off the glass, coming away with 10 rebounds.

DQ Cole got the scoring started for the Golden Grizzlies, stealing a Penguin pass before driving to the rim for a fastbreak layup. On Oakland's next possession, Buru Naivalurua made his presence known, driving down the lane for another Oakland layup.

Despite the Golden Grizzlies' consistent offense to start things off, the Penguins matched their energy. Anytime Oakland scored, Youngstown State had an answer on offense, with five total lead changes coming in the first eight minutes of the half. 

Around the halfway point in the first, the Penguins established a notable lead over the Golden Grizzlies, as their aggressive defense started to take a toll on Oakland. Following a transition three from David Wilkerson, Youngstown State found themselves up 22-13.

As the first progressed, the Golden Grizzlies found some consistency on offense. Cole found Nassim Mashhour, who knocked down a long-range three. Still, the Penguins would not back down on offense, as Farmer responded with a three of his own to keep Oakland in a double-digit deficit with 5:25 left in the half.

Toward the end of the first 20, the Golden Grizzlies started to make headway and cut into the Penguins' lead. With 30 seconds to go before time expired, Mukeba converted an and-one layup to cut the Penguin lead to four. Still, on the next possession, Cris Carroll made a pair at the charity stripe to give Youngstown State a 38-32 lead at halftime.

The Golden Grizzlies entered halftime shooting at a.483 clip (14-for-29) from the field while converting .333 (3-for-9) of their attempts from deep. In comparison, Youngstown State shot at a .382 rate (13-for-34) from the floor and .368 (7-for-19) from three. Off of the glass, Oakland led the Penguins in the rebounding battle, 24-17.

Youngstown State had no issues finding offense at the start of the second half, as the Penguins shifted their focus to attacking the Oakland interior. Just three minutes into the second, the double-digit Penguin lead the Golden Grizzlies had erased at the end of the first returned.

Halfway through the second, Youngstown State remained ahead. Despite a roof-raising dunk from Mukeba, the Penguins stayed collected on the floor as Maxey and Farmer continued supplementing the offense.

With the game starting to come to a close, the Golden Grizzlies couldn't catch up to the Penguins. Although Naivalurua had some electric plays down the stretch, the Golden Grizzlies ultimately came up short to Youngstown State, 84-75.

At the end of the game, the Golden Grizzlies finished with a .452 clip (28-for-62) from the floor while making .280 (7-for-25) of their attempts from beyond the arc. The Penguins ended the game with a .439 (29-for-66) rate from the field while making .294 (10-for-34) of their tries from three. Both teams ended up tying in the rebounding battle, 39-39.

Up next, the Golden Grizzlies will travel to Indianapolis on Wednesday to face off against the IU Indy Jaguars. The game against IU Indy tips off at 6:30 p.m. ET and will be live-streamed on ESPN+. All Oakland games this season will be live-streamed through audio via 97.1HD-3, The Bet1270 AM (WXYT-AM) & the Audacy App with Neal Ruhl on the call.