Entering the last day of November, Oakland had lost four in a row. They had not beaten a D1 opponent on the year, and was fresh off of a home defeat to Eastern Michigan, while being the nation’s worst three-point shooting team.
So naturally, the Golden Grizzlies went on the road and beat Toledo 85-52 as 8.5-point underdogs.
Toledo has been one of the best mid major programs in the Midwest in recent years, and they and Oakland have had their fair share of quality games over the years. This year’s edition featured the MAC defending champ against the Horizon League defending champ, which led many to believe this game would be close. But Oakland had other ideas.
After an even first stretch the game, the score was 20-19 Oakland with just under five minutes left in the first half. The Golden Grizzlies used a couple of threes from DQ Cole, and some nice plays by Jaylen Jones to take a 34-23 lead into halftime.
From there it was all Oakland.
Defensively, the Golden Grizzlies were suffocating. Toledo came into the game with a high scoring attack and left the building with barely over 50 points. Oakland forced the Rockets into tough two-point shots, playing their zone to perfection.
Of course, the lopsided score had much to do with the offense Golden Grizzly fans were hoping to see coming into the year. Oakland entered the game shooting around 20% from three, and put on an 11-22 showing from beyond the arc en route to 85 points.
The leader of that effort was DQ Cole. He made his first three of the night early on, and didn’t look back. Cole made six threes and scored 22 points, while also grabbing five rebounds. The preseason all-league pick had struggled bigtime from three early this year but may have had his coming out party on Saturday night. It was a very welcome sight for Oakland faithful.
In the paint, Oakland’s budding dynamic duo continued dominance. Buru Naivalurua notched a double double with 16 points and 13 rebounds. He shot 7-10 from the floor which improved his league-leading field goal percentage. Naivalurua leads the Golden Grizzlies in scoring and rebounding so far, but the lead in scoring is tight to Allen Mukeba. Mukeba faced heavy double teams all night and still found his way to 17 points and six boards. Passing out of that heavy attention led to three assists as well. If Oakland makes shots from the perimeter, it will make these two even more likely to have huge success.
The other Golden Grizzly in double figures was Jaylen Jones. Jones stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals, with a couple of threes. The point guard is finding his way, and is becoming a go to piece for Oakland, with his brother Isaiah on the way back as well.
The rest of the crew was led by Jayson Woodrich, who seemed to be more in control than what we have seen lately. He made a few shots, good for seven points, and continued to show his rebounding prowess with six boards from his guard spot. Malcolm Christie made a three, and Cooper Craggs started again, scoring an and one and leading the team with two steals. Freshman Warren Marshall, who was previously believed to be redshirting, made his Oakland debut. That will be a story to monitor.
Overall, this was a hug boost for this group. There were never any signs of wavering mentally after a tough stretch, but this has to feel good for the players to get a win like this. Now, it’s time for two conference games. It really matters.
Thursday will be the Horizon League opener for the Golden Grizzlies, as they take on Wright State in Rochester. Tipoff is slated for 7pm.
