The “Good Luck Duck” is essentially a duck trophy that the Davenport team stole out of the Grizzlies locker room seven seasons ago. The Battle for the Duck is a best-of-five series played every season. The winner of the trophy paints the Duck in their school colors, as a sort of mockery to the other team.

“The Duck belonged to some friends of mine, Brent Hable and Kyle Wilson, and somehow ended up in our locker room,” said Director of Hockey Operations Corey Hagood. “But a few years ago, after our game against Davy, they broke into our locker room and stole it.”

The moniker of ‘Good Luck’ to the trophy is due to the fact that since 2007, the team that has won the Duck has won nationals. Oakland won the Division 2 National Championship that year. Since joining division 1 in 2008, Davenport has won the Duck each season and in turn, has won nationals.

“Both teams have always been good and won multiple national championships,” said Hagood.

Hagood described the rivalry as being similar to the Detroit Red Wings and Colorado Avalanche rivalry in the 90’s.

The series is currently tied at one game apiece this season. The first two games were played the first weekend of December, on the second and third. In the first game played at the Onyx Ice Irena, OU shutout Davenport 5-0. The Saturday game was played in Grand Rapids, with Davenport defeating the Grizzlies 3-2.

Forward Alex Hoffman scored both goals for Oakland in the second game. The first game saw goals by five different Oakland players — Dustin Hopfner, Brian Jacobs, Anthony Colizza, Frank Matyok and Adam Novak.

The series continues this weekend, with Oakland hosting Davenport at the Onyx at 8pm on Friday, February 3. The Saturday game will be played in Grand Rapids. If Oakland can get wins over Davenport in both games, they will win the Good Luck Duck for the first time since the 2007 season. If the series is split once again, a fifth game will be played February 24 at the Onyx.

The Golden Grizzlies are preparing for the game with one goal in mind, and that is to win.

“For that, you don’t really have to do anything to psych yourself up for that. I’ve been here for four years and have never won that Good Luck Duck,” said defenseman Jacob DeSano. “Every year Davenport has won it, they’ve won nationals.”

Oakland has a picture of the Duck in their locker room, painted in the Davenport colors, to use as motivation.

The importance of this year’s Good Luck Duck series has never been higher.

“We are having hard good practices and going over game film. The coaches are preparing them well,” said Hagood.  “I don’t think you do anything different; every game is huge but this is bigger than years past since first place in the conference and an auto bid to Nationals is on the line.”

“If you want to see what OU Hockey is about, this is the game to come to the game that will make you like hockey,” Hagood said. “Support your school, have fun, be loud. It is a fun time and you’ll be hooked if you come out.”

It was a game of two halves as the Oakland University women’s basketball team suffered their worst home loss of the season, dropping 61-51 against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.

The Golden Grizzlies (10-10, 6-5 Summit League) came into Monday night’s game having won five of their last six games, all coming within the month of January. Coupled with the team’s impressive 7-2 record inside the O’rena, Oakland looked to hand the Jackrabbits only their second conference loss of the season.

Meanwhile, South Dakota State (15-7, 10-1 Summit League) came into the game holding the top spot in the Summit League conference.

Redshirt freshman guard Amy Carlton surprisingly stepped up to lead the Grizzlies’ initial charge, scoring the first five points of the game.

Oakland head coach Beckie Francis was very pleased with Carlton’s play, highlighting her will on the court.

“What freshman takes the starting spot and scores the first five points in this kind of game,” Francis said. “She is a hustle player, always getting her nose in there, she really is my replacement for Zakiya. She is my ‘Rudy’ story, she’s a walk on, and the fact that she is starting like this and producing is incredible.”

Zakiya Minifee was lost for the season after a lower leg injury in the game against IUPUI in early January. Minifee was previously the team’s leading rebounder and one of the team’s top scorers.

While Carlton helped to set the tone early, it was senior center Brittany Carnago who stole the spotlight in the first half — and rightfully so. Carnago notched her 260th block of her career early in the game, setting a new school record. The previous record had been held by Brenda McLean, and had stood since 1985.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Carnago said. “It’s quite the honor to be up there with such excellent players”

With walk-ons stepping up and records being broken, Oakland was able to ride a 7-0 run into halftime and take a 29-23 lead into the locker room. The run was capped by a buzzer beater lay up by Carnago.

While Oakland carried the momentum into halftime, the Golden Grizzlies came out flat in the second half. Out of the break the Jackrabbits reeled off a 12-2 run to retake the lead for good, attacking the Grizzlies with a barrage of three pointers. SDSU went an impressive 7-12 from behind the arc in the second half, while Oakland matched with a dreadful 0-5 from the same distance.

“I thought what really hurt us was our defense,” Watterworth said. “And we went cold there for a little while, and we didn’t hit a shot which hurt us.”

Finally, freshman forward Shelby Herrington hit a jumper to stop the bleeding — but it was too little too late. SDSU took control of the game, shooting 46.7 percent in the second stanza, to Oakland’s 28 percent.

Oakland gave up a season high 12 three-pointers to the Jackrabbits, who relied on shots from the outside to seal the victory.

Watterworth led the Grizzlies’ attack with a game-high 25 points to go along with seven rebounds, which also tied for the game-high in that category.

Senior guard Sharise Calhoun was the only other Grizzly in double-figures, notching 11 points. Carnago chipped in seven.

South Dakota State sported a balanced attack with Jill Young having 15, Rachel Walters adding a career-high 12 off the bench and Ashley Eide contributing 10.

“We’ve done really well against (the top teams in the conference)” Francis said. “We have just a little bit more work to do and we’re focusing on peaking in March.”

The Grizzlies begin a two-game roadtrip with Western Illinois on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. and then IUPUI on Feb. 6.

Contact Timothy Pontzer at trpontze@oakland.edu and follow him on Twitter @timothy_pontzer

With 61 years of coaching combined, more than 770 career wins total and one grateful university, Pete Hovland and Greg Kampe were inducted into the Hollie L. Lepley Hall of Honor.

On Friday evening, select alumni, student athletes and many others met together to induct the men’s and women’s swimming head coach and men’s basketball head coach.

“Oakland as a community has provided a pretty nice way of life and environment to grow, thrive and be successful,” Hovland said. “It allows people to stay long enough to recruit some of these accolades.”

Since his arrival in 1979, Hovland has become the most successful coach in OU history with four national titles in Division II and 15 top-three finishes in 18 years.

On Jan. 14, Hovland earned his 300th career victory with wins over both Cleveland State and Xavier.

Hovland’s consistent success has allowed for OU to become not only a Summit League powerhouse with 12 championships, but also to grow into a dominant Mid-Major program with high expectations for the future.

That very success has resulted in student-athletes buying into his coaching mentality and wanting to be a part of what Hovland has built.

“If you can find a group of young people and convince them that there is something out there that is bigger and better, and that is worthwhile, it’s very uplifting,” Hovland said. “You’ll find a lot of people that will buy into that and we’ve been lucky over the years to find that.”

“We are always big on not just being a team but being a family,” senior swimmer Scott Yarbrough said. “Hovland is always trying to bring everyone to their best ability instead of just worrying about wins and losses.”

According to Yarbrough, one of the great traits about Hovland is his approach to recruiting that is different than the more prominent universities.

“(Hovland) sees past the times and recruits those people who can get better,” Yarbrough said. “They may not be the fastest in their first two years here, but by the time they graduate, they’ve become a significant member of the team.”

Like Hovland, fellow Lepley Hall of Honor inductee and men’s basketball coach Greg Kampe has taken Oakland from a top Division II team to an up-and-coming Division I Mid-Major program.

With 27 seasons under his belt, the five-time Summit League Coach of the Year Kampe has led the Golden Grizzlies to consecutive Summit League championships and NCAA tournament berths.

“I didn’t do anything. Seriously,” Kampe said. “There’s no I. It’s what we’ve done here as a group of coaches and athletes. It’s always been about being together as an athletic program. If I’ve done anything right, I’ve hired good people.”

Kampe has also coached OU to a 68-18 league-record over the past five seasons, putting the Grizzlies at the No. 1 spot over the other D-1 schools in the state of Michigan.

With previous offers to coach at Central Michigan and Dayton, Kampe has a simple reason why he decided to stay at Oakland.

“Oakland is just a place on a map, with streets and buildings, but what makes Oakland special is the people,” Kampe said. “Everybody asks ‘why are you still there?’ It’s the special people from the top to the bottom.”

Along with Hovland, Kampe recruits a certain type of player in a certain type of way.

“Most coaches when they are on a visit try to impress you and treat you extra nice,” junior forward Drew Valentine said. “(Kampe) was real from the start and treated me as if I was already on the team.”

While success on the court requires great athletes, Kampe requires them to be students first, and athletes second. Because of that, the Grizzlies have the state’s highest graduation rate and are among the nation’s elite in NCAA Academic Progress Reports, which measures a school’s ability to graduate players.

“(Coach Kampe) keeps himself and the program to a high standard,” Valentine said. “He doesn’t go easy or baby anyone. That’s what has kept him successful … he preaches a well rounded athlete not only on the court but in the classroom.”

Players come and go, but Hovland and Kampe’s commitment to the university and the “we not I” philosophy has stayed the same.

“It’s been an unbelievable ride to be part of,” Kampe said. “Have we brought recognition to the university? Yeah, I think we’ve done a good job.”

Oakland facing Illinois State in ESPN BracketBuster

On Monday night, ESPN announced that the Oakland University men’s basketball team will square off with the Illinois State RedBirds on Feb. 18 as part of the annual ‘BracketBuster’ series.

Every year, ESPN puts together the ‘BracketBuster’ matchups as a showcase for mid-majors before March. Teams are paired with similar Ratings Percentage Index which is a metric used to rank teams based upon a certain team’s wins and losses and its strength of schedule.

RPI is also brought about right before the NCAA tournament, as many ‘bubble teams’ on the fringe of being selected for the tournament can either make it in or be left out based upon their ranking. These BracketBuster games can sometimes aid a team’s profile and résumé before spots are handed out for the NCAA tournament. Illinois State currently has an RPI of 117 and Oakland is at 122.

Oakland (12-12) will have to travel over seven hours by bus to Normal, Ill. to take on the RedBirds.

Illinois State are currently 14-8 overall, sporting an impressive 11-2 record at home. The RedBirds hail from the Missouri Valley Conference, where they are 8-3 in the conference.

Oakland and Illinois State have met four times in the past, with the last game taking place in 2000. While the RedBirds hold a 3-1 all-time record over the Grizzlies, the one time that the Grizzlies prevailed was a memorable achievement.

Oakland recorded its first ever victory as a Division I program, with a 72-71 victory during the 1998-99 season.

Despite its name, at this time the ESPN matchup will not be televised. However, the game will be able to be heard locally on the radio on WDFN-AM (1130).

OU swimming and diving team wins big on Senior Day

The Oakland men’s and women’s swimming and diving team ended their season with a bang, beating IUPUI on Saturday afternoon in the OU Aquatic Center as part of the homecoming festivities.

The event was the final dual meet of the season, being marked as “Senior Day” in order to honor the  veteran swimmers on the squad. Several seniors stepped up on their final day, winning events under the Oakland banner.

Senior Marcella Barretta won both the one-meter and three-meter diving events. Barretta’s effort helped the OU women win with a final score of 142-96.

The Grizzlies had five different individual event winners in the women’s swimming events. Senior Alyssa Vela won the 100 freestyle, junior Alyssa Busch captured the 200 yard backstroke, sophomore Vanessza Balogh came in first in the 400-IM, sophomore Emily Ludema took the 200 yard butterfly.

For the men, senior Joe Rodgers led the men to a 119-86 victory behind his two victories. Rodgers won the 400 yard individual medley and the 200 yard backstroke.

Although the seniors competed in the last regular season event of their careers, they will still compete in their home pool one last time. The Summit League Championships will be hosted by OU on Feb. 15 to 18.

 Jones wins three events at IPFW Quadrangular meet

On Saturday, the Grizzlies men’s and women’s track and field teams competed in the IPFW Quadrangular meet. The Golden Grizzlies took on athletes from IPFW, Detroit and Valparaiso.

Senior Micah Jones led the Oakland effort by winning the high jump, the triple jump, and the long jump. Junior Lia Jones won the one-mile run and Shaunte Roberts won the 60-meter dash.

Junior Anthony Sterzick led the way with a victory in the 800-meter run. OU notched top-three finishes from senior Ryan Balzer in the shot put and fellow senior Steven Marcinkowski in the one-mile run.

Oakland will continue with their season on Feb. 3 with a meet at Youngstown State.

Contact senior reporter Timothy Pontzer via e-mail at trpontze@oakland.edu and follow him on Twitter @timothy_pontzer

The Golden Grizzlies (10-10, 6-5 Summit League) came into Monday night’s game having won five of their last six games, all coming within the month of January. Coupled with the team’s impressive 7-2 record inside the O’rena, Oakland looked to hand the Jackrabbits only their second conference loss of the season.

Meanwhile, South Dakota State (15-7, 10-1 Summit League) came into the game having won five straight, and holding the top spot in the Summit League conference.

This set up for a marquee matchup inside the O’rena, a rematch of last year’s Summit League Championship game.

The game had a title-game feel early with both teams trading baskets immediately following tip-off. Redshirt freshman guard Amy Carlton surprisingly stepped up to lead the Grizzlies’ initial charge, scoring the first five points of the game. Oakland head coach Beckie Francis was very pleased with Carlton’s play, highlighting her will on the court.

“What freshman takes the starting spot and scores the first five points in this kind of game,” Francis said, “She is a hustle player, always getting her nose in there, she really is my replacement for Zakiya. She is my Rudy story, she’s a walk on, and the fact that she is starting like this and producing is incredible.”

Zakiya Minifee was lost for the season after a lower leg injury in the IUPUI game in early January. Minifee was previously the team’s leading rebounder and one of the team’s top scorers.

While Carlton helped to set the tone early, it was senior center Brittany Carnago who stole the spotlight in the first half – and rightfully so. Carnago notched her 260th block of her career early in the game, setting a new school record. The previous record had been held by Brenda McLean, and had stood since 1985.

At the post-game press conference, Carnago was very humbled by the record, but wished that it had come in a victory.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Carnago said, “It’s quite the honor to be up there with such excellent players”

With walk-ons stepping up and records being broken, Oakland was able to ride a 7-0 run into halftime and take a 29-23 lead into the locker room. The run was capped by a buzzer beater lay up by Carnago.

While Oakland carried the momentum into halftime, the Golden Grizzlies came out flat in the second half. Out of the break the Jackrabbits reeled off a 12-2 run to retake the lead for good, attacking the Grizzlies with a barrage of three pointers. SDSU went an impressive 7-12 from behind the arc in the second half, while Oakland matched with a dreadful 0-5 from the same distance.

Star junior forward Bethany Watterwoth summed it up bluntly.

“I thought what really hurt us was our defense,” Watterworth said, “And we went cold there for a little while, and we didn’t hit a shot which hurt us.”

That “cold streak” was OU failing to register a successful field goal for the first nine minutes of the second half.

Finally, freshman forward Shelby Herrington hit a jumper to stop the bleeding – but it was too little too late. SDSU took control of the game, shooting 46.7% in the second stanza, to Oakland’s 28.0% during that same time frame.

“Some games you shoot like this and some games you don’t,” Francis said. “It’s a credit to South Dakota State’s defense. We’re the top defensive teams in the league and we showed it in the first half and they showed it in the second half, it was like a swap.  It’s just a matter of getting two halves together and playing good defense the whole 40 minutes.”

Oakland gave up a season high 12 three-pointers to the Jackrabbits, who relied on shots from the outside to seal the victory.

Watterworth led the Grizzlies’ attack with a game-high 25 points to go along with seven rebounds, which also tied for the game-high in that category.  Senior guard Sharise Calhoun was the only other Grizzly in double-figures, notching 11 points. Carnago chipped in seven.

South Dakota State sported a balanced attack with Jill Young having 15, Rachel Walters adding a career-high 12 off the bench and Ashley Eide contributing 10.

Oakland was outrebounded by the Jackrabbits 38-29, but Oakland committed only nine turnovers to South Dakota State’s 12.

Coach Francis was obviously upset with the result, but was able to find some positives for the team going forward.

“There were some positives in this game, and I really want to give some credit to my team,” Francis said, “We kept them off the free throw line, this is the top free-throw attacking team in the conference, and they only went to the line three times. I thought that the rebounding and Walters in the second half killed us””

“We’ve done really well against (the top teams in the conference)” Francis said, “We have just a little bit more work to do and we’re focusing on peaking in March.”

The Golden Grizzlies begin a two game roadtrip on Saturday. Oakland will take on Western Illinois on Saturday at 5:30 and then IUPUI on Feb. 6.

It was a big night for center Brittany Carnago, who tied the school record for most shots blocked all time with 22. Carnago had four blocks on the night, and four points.

“Carnago got into foul trouble in North Dakota and that really bothered our defense,” said Head Coach Becky Francis.

Carnago managed to limit herself to four fouls at the O’rena, allowing her to play a pivotal role in the Grizzlies defense.

Oakland had trailed by seven at one point in the first half, the largest lead for the Bison.

At the 8:30 mark, the Grizzlies came out on top with a one-point advantage. They never lost the lead again.

The Grizzlies held the lead for most of the game, holding a 30-20 at the end of the first half, their largest at-half lead of the season so far. Oakland is now 7-1 when having the lead at halgtime.

The defense for the Grizzlies stayed stout throughout the game. The closest North Dakota came to tying with Oakland was at the 13:57 mark in the second half, coming within four. The first six minutes of the second half saw Oakland only score eight points to NDSU’s 14.

Star forward Bethany Watterworth scored 24 points for the Grizzlies, as well as getting eight rebounds and one block. Guard Sharise Calhoun wasn’t far behind with 18 points of her own. Calhoun also managed four rebounds, two assists and one steal.

The Grizzlies did not make any three-pointers against the Bison on Saturday.

“In practice this week, the coaches really emphasized us attacking,” said Watterworth. “We are still allowed to shoot a few threes, but our whole game plan is to shoot a three if we can. I thought we were coached really well in that aspect and everyone attacked and got to the free throw line.”

Watterworth had 15 points in the second half alone, making seven of eleven field goals; a total of 11-22 in the entire game.

Janae Burich, center, and center Dani DeGagne led the Bison with 12 points each. DeGagne was 5-13 with field goals and had one steal. Burich was 6-13 for field goals with one assist and three blocks. The Bison only completed 21 the entire game, shooting 33 percent.

The entire game, the Grizzlies only attempted six three-pointers. The majority of points for Oakland came in the paint with 40.

Oakland now extends their Summit League record to 7-4, placing them at a third seed in the conference.

“I don’t look at the standings; I’m the opposite of Kampe,” Francis said. “I don’t follow it because it makes me nervous. I focus on our team getting better every day, and in March, they can tell me what our seed is.”

The next game for the Grizzlies is on Monday, Jan. 28 at 6:30 p.m. against South Dakota State in the O’rena.

The freshman was between Oakland defenders Drew Valentine and Travis Bader, and before either of the two could converge and erase the space to operate, Alexander connected on a three-pointer with four seconds left that would be the spoiler for Saturday night’s homecoming contest.

In the remaining seconds, the Golden Grizzlies (12-12, 6-6 Summit League) were unable to get off a shot attempt, and North Dakota State trumped Oakland, 78-75, in front of the fourth-largest crowd ever at the O’rena.

“(Oakland) actually blew up our play; we had isolated (sophomore guard) Taylor (Braun), and they did a really good job of adjusting to it,” North Dakota State coach Saul Phillips said. “I would’ve done the same thing they did. L.A. shoots it 23 percent from three, and he hit that one, but I thought they defended it really well. Big, big shot for a freshman; I’m proud of my guy.”

Oakland head coach Greg Kampe didn’t put quite as positive of a spin on the defensive prowess of his team regarding Alexander’s triple.

“The last possession of the game is the epitome of our season: a wide-open, uncontested shot to win the game,” Kampe said. “Who gets a wide-open, uncontested shot with 20 seconds to go in the game? Who allows a wide-open, uncontested shot? Only us; they made it, we deserved for them to make it, we deserved everything that happened, and that’s our season.”

“That last 30 seconds is our season. And if our guys think that we’re just going to flip a switch when we get to March, they’re dead wrong. They’re going to be a very disappointed group of kids.”

Coming off Thursday’s effort where Bader had one of the best scoring performances in Oakland history, Hamilton, in stretches, was just as impressive, if not more so. The Chicago native drained an isolated 3-pointer with 35 seconds left over 6-7 sophomore guard Taylor Braun with 35 seconds left to tie the game at 75-all that had the O’rena crowd on its feet. More impressive, Hamilton had a streak spanning both halves where he scored 23 of Oakland’s 26 points in less than seven minutes.

Despite finishing with 37 points and six assists, the disappointment postgame was still evident for Hamilton.

“I knew the team who made the stop was going to get the win,” Hamilton said. “Unfortunately, we made some plays, but they made one more play than we did.”

Both coaches seemed visibly disgruntled with the officiating throughout the night, but the consensus from both was that the play was more physical than the previous meeting in Fargo, where the Bison (14-7, 7-4) defeated Oakland 96-69 earlier this season.

“The one at our place was fairly physical, but it was two teams playing extremely hard, toe-to-toe, not willing to back down an inch; two teams capable of making some noise in Sioux Falls,” Phillips said. “These games I know are going to be emotional and taxing. This game takes place aside the other ones as being just a really good mid-major basketball game.”

On the heels of a three-game losing streak, the Bison got their first win ever on the O’rena floor thanks to an efficient effort on the offensive end, shooting 63 percent from the floor. Sophomore forward Marshall Bjorklund, one of the nation’s leaders in shooting percentage, went 10-for-12 with a team high 21 points. Alexander also scored 17 points, including two triples from the start that helped give the Bison a nine-point advantage in the first half. Braun, the team’s leading scorer (16.6 ppg), contributed 15 as well for North Dakota State.

Oakland, which led for a good portion of the second half, got a record performance out of junior forward Valentine, who scored 15 points for the Golden Grizzlies. Bader, who notched his career-high of 37 points last game against South Dakota State, followed up with 12 points on 4 of 11 shooting, with all his makes coming from outside the perimeter.

The Golden Grizzlies look to get back on track this Wednesday, traveling to take on IUPUI (8-15, 2-9). Tip-off is at 7 p.m. Oakland defeated the Jaguars, 93-81, at home earlier this season.

With seven pro-scouts and an attendance of 2,935 to see some two of the elite Summit League guards in Oakland University’s Reggie Hamilton and South Dakota State’s Nate Wolters face off, sophomore guard Travis Bader stole the show in the 92-87 win.

Bader, who hasn’t started the past five games, finished 10-of-14 (71 percent) from the three-point line breaking the previous OU record of nine treys made, held by Calvin Wooten against Albany in 2005.

On top of the Oakland records, Bader has tied the best three-point output in Division 1 this season.

“I just want to do whatever I can to help the team and if that means coming off the bench and bringing energy and hitting shots, I’m going to do that,” Bader said.

Drew Valentine had an impressive stat-line, shooting 7-of-12 from the field and finished with 19 points, eight rebounds, and three steals. Ryan Bass scored ten points and four assists.

“Drew (Valentine’s) stats mean nothing to me. I’ve said this since the day of the season started: he’s my MVP,” Kampe said. “He’s the guy that makes us go.”

Reggie Hamilton, although finishing with 16 points, had only two total points until under 11 minutes to play in the second half. That doesn’t mean Hamilton wasn’t effective in the other ways in the offense; he also had eight assists.

“I think because the ball wasn’t going in for Reggie, we had to find other options. We don’t get a lot of assists because we score of the dribble (most of the time).”

Star SDSU guard Nate Wolters had 21 points and eight rebounds. Forward Jordan Dykstra had the hot hand for the Jack Rabbits, going five-of-eight from the three-point line, and had 21 points and ten rebounds.

“(Wolters) is a wonderful player,” Kampe said. “He’s a pro and going to make a lot of money playing basketball. I thought we did a nice job (of guarding him).”

After going into halftime with a six point deficit, the Grizzlies opened the second half with a 15-4 run including back to back three-pointers from Bader and a dunk from Valentine.

“The locker room was pretty upset … we did not play with energy in the first half. I thought we were dead for some reason,” Kampe said. “We came out in the second half with great emotion and desire and we got the crowd in the game.”

The Grizzlies (12-11, 6-5 Summit) are 4-1 in their past five games, which Kampe attributes to the team peaking at the right time.

“We pride ourselves in peaking and getting better. The records show that,” Kampe said. “This team is poised to try and make a run and go into that tournament playing as well as they can possibly can play. We’ve got a chance even though we’ve stumbled.”

The Grizzlies have a chance to redeem themselves again with North Dakota State Bison coming to the O’rena on Jan. 28 at 6:00 p.m.

Oakland lost to the Bison 96-69 earlier in the season on Dec.28.

“That was our worst game of the year. It was demoralizing to get beat like that,” Valentine said. “We’re not satisfied. I’m happy we won (tonight), but we’re ready to come out Saturday and get that one, too.”

The quality play from the Grizzlies in the second half of January has the Kampe optimistic for the rest of the season.

“(We’re) a young team and it’s a team that’s learning,” Kampe said. “We still have a chance to get 20 wins and have four straight 20-win seasons.”

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Kevin Romanchik is the Sports Editor for the Oakland Post. He covers the men’s basketball team for Oakland University as well as other local sports. You can email him at kromanchik@gmail.com, and follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Ro.

Star junior forward Bethany Watterworth led the Golden Grizzlies’ effort with 20 points. Freshman guard Amy Carlton was the only other Grizzly in double figures, posting a career high 12 points off the bench.

For Southern Utah, sophomore Andrea Jones led all scorers with a career high of her own, notching 22 points. Fellow sophomore Carli Moreland put up the only double-double of the game, grabbing 16 rebounds along with 18 points for the Thunderbirds.

Both teams traded baskets in the first half, with the Thunderbirds taking a 34-26 lead into halftime. Southern Utah pushed their lead to 10 early in the second half, but left the door open for OU to storm back.

Watterworth exploded for 16 points in the second half. Behind Watterworth’s effort, Oakland outscored SUU 38-26 in the second half, fueled by a 16-1 run that put the Grizzlies in the lead for good.

The comeback was aided by a dominant effort on the boards in the second half, with Oakland out-rebounding the Thunderbirds 33-24 in the second half. Sophomore guard Victoria Lipscomb grabbed 9 rebounds for the Grizzlies. Senior center Brittany Carnago also made her presence felt in the paint, having an impressive six blocks.

Southern Utah scored 10 points in the final minute and a half to draw within four, but Oakland was able to hit the necessary free throws to hold on for the win.

Oakland returns to the O’rena on Saturday, Jan. 28 for homecoming weekend. Oakland faces North Dakota State University at 3:30 p.m.

Men’s basketball team fall in finale at Oral Roberts

In the finale of the Oakland and Oral Roberts conference rivalry, the Golden Eagles went out with a bang defeating OU 93-86. The win gave ORU a season sweep of the Golden Grizzlies to maintain their undefeated Summit League record.

Oakland edged Oral Roberts shooting 56 percent and 55 percent respectively, but the Grizzlies couldn’t slow down Dominique Morrison who finished with 24 points.

For the Grizzlies, senior Reggie Hamilton led all scorers with 30 points, but two costly turnovers late in the game threw the brakes on a possible Grizzlies comeback.

Midway through the second half, Oakland held a ten point lead but a controversial intentional foul call from Drew Valentine gave the Eagles back the momentum.

The Grizzlies lost their first game of the season after leading at halftime, snapping a 28 game winning streak when leading at the half.

The game probably marks the last time the two teams will meet, as ORU is leaving the Summit League for the Southland Conference next season. The Grizzlies return for a two game homestand starting on Jan. 26 against South Dakota at 7 p.m. in the O’rena.

Second half comeback gives Oakland women the victory

The Oakland University women’s basketball team garnered their third road victory of the year with a 64-60 come from behind win over the Southern Utah Thunderbirds on Monday night.

Star junior forward Bethany Watterworth led the Golden Grizzlies’ effort with 20 points. Freshman guard Amy Carlton was the only other Grizzly in double figures, posting a career high 12 points off the bench.

Both teams traded baskets in the first half, with the Thunderbirds taking a 34-26 lead into halftime. Southern Utah pushed their lead to 10 early in the second half, but left the door open for OU to storm back.

Watterworth exploded for 16 points in the second half. Behind Watterworth’s effort, Oakland outscored SUU 38-26 in the second half, fueled by a 16-1 run that put the Grizzlies in the lead for good.

The comeback was aided by a dominant effort on the boards in the second half, with Oakland out-rebounding the Thunderbirds 33-24 in the second half. Sophomore guard Victoria Lipscomb grabbed 9 rebounds for the Grizzlies.

Track and field shows how to ‘Keep up with the Joneses’

The Oakland track and field team impressed on Friday evening at the Mike Lints Alumni Open in Allendale.

For the women, Micah Jones took the top spot in the long jump and senior Lia Jones won the 5,000 meter run. This was the second consecutive week that Lia Jones had won a race.

Freshman Katelynne Hartman finished eighth in the shot put and senior Desiree Pettiford earned a top-ten finish in the 400 meter dash.

For the men, senior Dave Magnotte earned a top-five finish in the one-mile run and fellow senior Niklas Rippon also posted a top-five finish, notching his in the 60-meter run.

OU continues the season next week when they travel to Fort Wayne to take on IPFW on Saturday.

Coaches to be inducted into Hall of Honor

As part of the festivities surrounding the 2012 Homecoming Weekend, two new inductees will be added to the 25th Hollie L. Lepley Hall of Honor.

Men’s basketball head coach Greg Kampe and men’s and women’s swimming and diving head coach Pete Hovland will both be the newest members of the Hall.

Coach Kampe has overseen 20 winning seasons and three NCAA Division I tournament berths.

Coach Hovland spent the last 31 years at the helm of the men’s team, and 11 seasons at the helm of the women’s squad.

Contact senior reporter Timothy Pontzer via e-mail at trpontze@oakland.edu and follow him on Twitter @timothy_pontzer