There are some games that you know will be a fight, no matter the record or situation of the opponent. In football, they are called helmet games. No matter the form of the school, you know they will be able to handle a test because of where they play.
In the Horizon League, Northern Kentucky is a helmet game.
And on Wednesday, Oakland faced that road challenge head on and came away with an 82-77 win. The result pulled the Golden Grizzlies’ overall record back even at 6-6, while more importantly pushing their Horizon League record to 2-0, a mark that is unmatched in the standings at the moment.
“This was about just finding a way to win,” Greg Kampe said postgame. “We made a lot of mistakes. Neither team shot it great, which you would expect this time of year coming off of exams. But both teams made big shots. Brody (Robinson) has really struggled recently from the line for some reason, but with the game on the line tonight I was never worried. He closed the game out for us.”
Robinson went 8-of-8 from the line, with most of those coming down the stretch. He finished with 16 points and six assists after leaving the game twice with what appeared to be an arm problem.
The game was tight throughout. Neither side held a lead greater than two possessions the entire 40 minutes. Oakland led for most of the second half but found themselves trailing 70-69 with just over two minutes to play.
Four straight points from Buru Naivalurua, who was in foul trouble the entire game, Robinson’s free throws, and key stops followed.
“I don’t think we will say this a lot this year, but we won tonight because of our defense,” Kampe said. “Down the stretch we got every stop we needed to. We went man to man up three on the last possession and said no threes no fouls. We were unbelievable. Both of their shots on the last two possessions were falling down fade away threes.”
Naivalura only managed six points on a tough night, but Michael Houge and Isaac Garrett were spectacular. Houge led the Golden Grizzlies in scoring with 18 points, making 4-of-4 from the line. He also grabbed eight rebounds. Garrett stuffed the stat sheet: he posted a double double with 15 points, 11 rebounds, and also had five assists. The highlight assist came with Oakland trailing by two with just over four minutes to go, and Garrett hit Khoi Thurmon with a behind the back pass. Thurmon hit his first three of the season to beat the shot clock buzzer. Thurmon’s five points and four steals in this game were key, and it was his best game as a Golden Grizzly so far.
Ziare Wells and Brett White II each added 10 points and three rebounds, with many of those combined points coming in the second half. These two are huge keys going forward after the loss of Nassim Mashhour. Warren Marshall IV also went 2-of-2 from the line.
Oakland now turns their attention to the final non-conference tilt of the season, the annual battle with Michigan State. The ninth ranked Spartans are 10-1, coming off a blowout win over Toledo. The game will take place at Little Caesars Arena, home of the Detroit Pistons and Detroit Red Wings. Tip-off is scheduled for noon Eastern Time and will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.
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