In a season full of tough pills to swallow, this one might take the cake.
On one hand, losing on the road as an underdog on the last possession when your best player doesn’t score can be looked at as a positive. The production put up by others kept Oakland on the game, with a chance to win late.
However, when you lose a tiebreaker in the loss, and you leave the arena feeling like you didn’t get a fair shake, while also making a few too many mistakes down the stretch, it may hurt.
Oakland lost on Saturday 73-71 at Robert Morris. Both teams came into the game with a 6-4 league record, which means Oakland is now 6-5, and a game behind the Colonials, who are now in the coveted top four of the standings.
The Golden Grizzlies started slow, trailing 9-0 almost immediately, but settled in to take a six point lead at the halftime break. From there, things got crazy.
The second half was action packed, going back and forth the whole final 20 minutes. When the game hit the final minute the two teams traded baskets. Malcolm Christie hit two threes in the final minute, both when the Golden Grizzlies were facing a three point deficit. This led to a tie game in the final seconds.
On that RMU possession, a foul was called DQ Cole with one second left. Robert Morris made two of the three free throws to win the game.
Immediately postgame, Greg Kampe, Associate Head Coach Jeff Smith, and Jayson Woodrich were seen on the broadcast pleading their case to the official that made the very questionable call. Earlier in the game, a play was blown dead as Woodrich nailed a three to go review a potential flagrant foul earlier in the possession. The foul was Nassim Mashhour’s fifth, and it took three off the board for Oakland and gave RMU two free throws, and possession. The Colonials took advantage, making both foul shots and hitting a three on their extra possession.
Even through all of this, Oakland held tough. Mashhour was a huge part of that. With Allen Mukeba being held scoreless and in foul trouble the whole game, Mashhour picked up some of the scoring slack, sinking four threes en route to 14 points. He could be emerging as a key member of Oakland’s rotation going forward.
While Mukeba was held quiet, his front court partner Buru Naivalurua was again brilliant. He scored a career high 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds. He overtook Mukeba as Oakland’s leading scorer in the season.
DQ Cole had eight points before also fouling out in only 22 minutes, while Malcolm Christie made his huge threes after not making a basket the whole game. He also ended with eight points.
Jayson Woodrich and Cooper Craggs provided lifts off the bench as well. Each guy made two threes, with Woodrich adding two more points, which gave him eight. He has looked better of late after an uncharacteristic brutal extended slump.
The loss was a bit to Oakland, but they have a chance to bounce back. A stretch of three straight home games starts on Thursday against Green Bay, who is winless in league play and comes in with the worst record on the country. Northern Kentucky, another team who has struggled of late, comes to the Orena on Saturday. If Oakland has goals of making their mark at the top of the standings in late February, these games on their home floor are massive.
Thursday’s tilt with the Phoenix is slated for 7pm Eastern Time, while Saturday’s rematch with the Norse will start at around 4pm Eastern Time in the second half of a doubleheader with the Oakland women. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
