Roasted Duck, anyone?
By Samantha Franz
Sports Editor
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Oakland University’s men’s basketball team earned what head coach Greg Kampe called the program’s most important victory during his tenure at OU. The Golden Grizzlies upset then No. 23 Oregon, 68-62 Dec. 22.
The cards were laid out perfectly for the Ducks: two of their starters, Malik Hairston and Tajuan Porter were making a homecoming to Detroit (both are graduates of Detroit Renaissance), they were ranked 23rd in the nation, according to the AP Poll, and were in a perfect position to rebound after an overtime loss to Nebraska on Dec. 15.
What they weren’t counting on was a resilient Oakland University team to take an 11-point lead in the first half and battle back from a 20-0 Oregon run in the second half, thus giving Oakland the 68-62 victory, OU’s first-ever over a top-25 team.
“This is the most important game in my 24 years here,” said head coach Greg Kampe following the game. “People might say ‘You beat Michigan and you won a NCAA tournament game [in 2005],’ but this is the biggest.”
The Oakland (8-7) and Oregon (10-4) matchup was the nightcap of the Dick’s Sporting Goods Spartan Clash Saturday night at the Palace of Auburn Hills and the home team put on a performance that was a great early Christmas present for Golden Grizzlies fans.
The Ducks drew first blood with a quick lay-up by forward Joevan Catron, but was quickly countered by two back-to-back 3-pointers by OU junior Erik Kangas, and the Grizzlies took a 6-2 lead.
The score would continue to seesaw between the two teams until Oregon took their final lead of the half at 12:56 with a 12-9 advantage.
After that, the first half was dominated by OU. Junior Derick Nelson led the charge with 11 first-half points and five boards and helped his team leave the Ducks stunned as the ranked team found themselves in a 37-26 hole going into halftime.
However, Oregon demonstrated why they were a ranked team in the second half. The Ducks stormed out of the gate and quickly erased a 13-point deficit en route to a 20-0 scoring run. With 14:33 left in the contest, OU found themselves down seven.
But Oakland didn’t surrender; they began to battle back. Senior sixth man Brandon Cassise got the ball rolling with a three-point play, thanks to being fouled on a fade away jumper with 8:16 remaining, bringing OU within one, 52-51. Clutch shots from Kangas and aggressive drives from Nelson helped OU gain a 60-54 advantage with about four minutes to go.
The Ducks would tie the game one more time with 3-pointers by Porter and Bryce Taylor, tying the score 60-60 with three minutes left. But trips to the charity stripe would keep OU on top and when the buzzer sounded, the Golden Grizzlies celebrated their 68-62 victory — their first over a top-25 team.
“This means a lot to me and (the) players, but it means more to the program,” Nelson said about being part of the historic victory. “This is about all the players who helped bring Oakland to Division I and the players that will be here in the future.”
