All year, the emphasis for Oakland was to get to this night. One game, at home, to get to the semifinals in Indianapolis.
The night came, and Oakland delivered.
While home teams went 1-3 in the Horizon League quarter finals on Thursday night, the first seeded Golden Grizzlies held serve, defeating eight seed Purdue Fort Wayne 75-65.
The big crowd was entertained right from the jump, with an almost storybook beginning.
Osei Price started in place of the injured Isaiah Jones, and showed off his athleticism with an offhand poster dunk in the opening minutes.
“I didn’t know he could do that,” said Coach Greg Kampe.
Then on the next possession, Chris Conway hit his second three of the year. Oakland has won in a multitude of ways all year, and they showed they were going to continue those ways in the postseason early on.
Taking a quote from Kansas head coach Bill Self, Kampe described the depth of his team.
“The reason we have done what we have done is because we have so many dudes.”
None of Oaklands three players who were recognized by the league, player of the year Trey Townsend, 6th man of the year Jack Gohlke, and second team honoree Blake Lampman reached double digits in scoring. That is not to say they struggled or weren’t effective. Townsend grabbed 11 boards and led the team in assists, Gohlke and Lampman each scored 9 including some big shots in the clutch. But it was the other “dudes” who really showed up.
First it was Dq Cole, who continued his success against Purdue Fort Wayne this year. He finished with 14 points, with most coming in the first half.
“Me and Rocket had a decent size advantage over the guards that they had, so it was just getting into the paint and playing off two feet,” said Cole.
Rocket Watts was the leading scorer on the night for Oakland with 18. As a fifth year guy who has played in every situation, it was clear he felt the big moment.
“I want to give all the credit to my teammates,” said Watts.
Chris Conway also reached double figures in the scoring column, with 11 points on 5-6 from the floor. But his defense was maybe more impressive. Conway finished with 4 blocks, and none of them came cheap. His defense, paired with Buru Naivalurua, was a huge factor in slowing down an offense that has had its way the last few times in the Orena. Tone Hunter also made a few big free throws and dished out 3 assists.
Oaklands lead reached 23 points in the middle of the second half, but it was trimmed to as low as 6 late. Oakland struggled with the end of game full court pressure, and they will need to clean that up ahead of the next contest.
Cleveland State is the opponent waiting in Indy for the Golden Grizzlies, and they will certainly look to replicate that pressure. The Vikings were able to do that en route to a win over Oakland early in the year, before Oakland got revenge at home. Cleveland State is coming off an impressive road win at Youngstown State, especially considering they were without first teamer Tristan Enaruna due to an injury. His status for Monday is unclear.
There will be more on the Vikings to come, but for now, Oakland will enjoy being one step closer to its ultimate goal, while understanding the work that lies ahead.
“There is a long way to go,” said Kampe.
There is still a long road ahead, but at least the road is still there to be traveled on.
The semi finals will take place Monday in Indianapolis. Tip is at 7pm on ESPNU.
