With less that 10 days before the Horizon League Tournament bracket would be finalized, there was no margin for error for the Golden Grizzlies.
Now, after a loss to Purdue Fort Wayne, it might be time to plan for a game Tuesday night.
Oakland dropped an 80-66 decision at the hands of the Mastodons to fall to 12-16 overall, but more importantly 9-8 in conference play.
It is not hard to see where this game was lost when looking at the box score. Oakland made it’s first three pointer before missing their last 20, good for a 1-21 performance from beyond the arc. On the other side, Purdue Fort Wayne poured in 17-38 from three point range.
The shooting display dropped Oakland to 357th in the country in three point percentage.
Oakland spread around the wealth on who was taking the three point shots, trying to find someone to provide a spark. DQ Cole made one, but also missed seven. He finished with seven points.
Jayson Woodrich went 0-5 from deep, while Malcolm Christie missed all three of his. Nassim Mashhour missed three as well, but went 4-5 from the line to get to six points. Isaiah Jones and Jaylen Jones each missed their only three point attempt.
Miraculously, this game was a contest until the last few minutes, with Oakland actually holding a lead mid second half. That was because the big man duo from Oakland could not be stopped.
Buru Naivalurua, who missed a few practices due to an illness, scored 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds. He made 11-15 from the floor to become the leagues leader in field goal percentage. He passed his teammate in that stat, as Allen Mukeba went 9-15 from the floor. Mukeba scored 21 points and had eight rebounds.
As we begin to creep closer to postseason play, the tandem of Naivalurua and Mukeba is a scary proposition for opponents in a tournament game, but Oakland will need to provide them more help from the perimeter than they did on Friday night. If they don’t it will be tough to win the necessary games in a row to repeat as tournament champs.
The Golden Grizzlies have a chance to get back on track right away, as a Sunday afternoon home game awaits. Coming into town is the first place Cleveland State Vikings.
That game will tip off at 3pm Eastern Time on ESPN+. It will also serve as Oakland’s senior day. Oakland will honor DQ Cole, Jayson Woodrich and Malcolm Christie.
