Tuesday night was the introduction to what is many college basketball fans favorite time of the year.
March.
Inside the Orena, six seed Oakland and 11 seed Green Bay did battle for a spot in the Horizon League quarterfinal, and the Golden Grizzlies never trailed en route to a 96-72 win.
It was a rematch of each team’s regular season finale on Saturday, in which Oakland came from 14 down to win in overtime. The Phoenix had been playing above the level of their record of late, including two wins in a row at home, and they were starting gain some traction as an upset pick.
“What happened Saturday was the best thing for us,” Oakland head coach Greg Kampe said. “If what happened tonight happened Saturday, I don’t know if we’re able to win this game.”
“Our players believed they could beat us.”
It sure seemed like Oakland got the message. Five minutes into the game, the Golden Grizzlies took a 19-7 lead, and they carried that double digit lead into halftime.
Green Bay was able to hold off the knockout blow for a little bit in the second half. Jeremiah Johnson had an impressive night, scoring 21 points and nine rebounds, while CJ O’Hara had a big early stretch as well, and ended the game with 15 points and six rebounds.
Oakland was led by Allen Mukeba, who had a monster night in only 25 minutes. He had 15 points, 11 rebounds, six blocks and four assists. Isaiah Jones was key in building that early lead, making four first half threes after opening the scoring with an and one. He scored 15 points as well.
DQ Cole added 11 points, while Buru Naivalurua posted 10 points. 11 Golden Grizzlies logged points in the scoring column.
Malcolm Christie and Jayson Woodrich each scored nine, Jaylen Jones had a big night in his return, logging eight points, eight rebounds and five rebounds while Deng Majak had a career high seven points.
In the game, Jayson Woodrich became the all time leader in games played by a Horizon League player, breaking a tie with former Northern Kentucky player Trevon Faulkner.
“He is the best teammate I have ever been around,” said Kampe. “And I have been around 41 years. He comes out after four minutes and he is telling Christie go make a shot.”
The win moved Oakland to 15-17 on the year, while the loss put a close on first year head coach Doug Gottlieb’s opening season. Green Bay ends the year at 4-28. 28 is currently the most losses in the country.
Oakland shifts their attention to a rematch of last years Horizon League Championship game vs Milwaukee. That game will be at Milwaukee, and tip off at 8pm Eastern Time on ESPN+.
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