By Samantha Franz, Rob Tate and

Brittany Ochtinsky

The Oakland Post sports staff

Week of Dec. 6-13

Men’s basketball

Dec. 6 vs. UMKC

Oakland University scoring records were broken left and right as the Golden Grizzlies defeated the Kangaroos 114-105 in the opening game of conference play. The 114 points are the highest scored in OU’s league play history since joining in 1998. Junior Derick Nelson and freshman Tim Williams notched career-highs in points, scoring 31 and 17, respectively.

Dec. 8 vs. Southern Utah

OU fell to Southern Utah, who were 1-7 overall before tipoff, 82-73. Junior Erik Kangas scored 27 points, hitting six 3-pointers. Thunderbird Geoff Payne led all scorers on the floor with 32 points.

Dec. 12 at University of Michigan

OU traveled to Ann Arbor to take on the University of Michigan, but couldn’t make an impact on the scoreboard as they fell 103-87. Nelson tied his career-high in points with 31, scoring 27 in the second half.

Women’s basketball

Dec. 8 vs. Southern Utah

The Golden Grizzlies led nearly from start to finish as they defeated the Thunderbirds, 78-56. Oakland went up by as many as 26 points midway through the second half. Five Golden Grizzlies had double-digit point totals, led by April Kidd’s 13.

Dec. 10 vs. UMKC

Oakland was dominant again at home against Summit League foe UMKC with a 78-50 victory. Charlese Greer came in off the bench to score a team-high 15 points.

Club Hockey

Dec. 8 vs. Adrian College

Brent Cooper led the Golden Grizzlies in Friday’s 7-4 victory with two goals and four assists. Kevin Kranker was right on his heels, scoring his first career hat trick and assisting on both of Cooper’s goals. Brett Haugh and Tony Yearego also scored for Oakland.

Dec. 9 vs. Adrian College

The Golden Grizzlies were down 1-0 in the third period in the second matchup against the Bulldogs, but OU reeled off three unanswered goals to take the 3-1 win. Jarrett Samp, John Parrish and Cooper each tallied a goal and Collin Chase turned aside 26 shots.

Week of Dec.14-20

Men’s basketball

Dec. 19 vs. Rochester College

Junior Dan Waterstradt recorded his first double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds as the Golden Grizzlies defeated cross-town rival Rochester College, 67-53.

Women’s basketball

Dec. 17 vs. West Virginia

Oakland dropped their record at 1-3 against top 25 teams this season with a loss to No. 13 West Virginia, 84-65. The Mountaineers got off to a hot start with a 29-10 run that was just too much for the Golden Grizzlies to make-up. Freshman Anna Patritto scored a career-high 17 points to lead Oakland.

Dec. 20 at Siena

The Golden Grizzlies survived a scare, but managed a 73-58 win on the road. Oakland got out to a 19-point lead with 14:57 in the second half. But Siena went on a 26-8 run to pull within one point with 6:11 remaining in the game. Junior Jessica Pike helped propel Oakland the rest of the way, scoring eight of her game-high 25 points in the final minutes.   

Week of Dec. 21-27

Women’s basketball

Dec. 22 vs. Niagara

Pike had another strong effort two days later as her game-high 19 points led to a 72-64 victory over Niagara. Oakland held on through nine lead changes in the first half, but they managed to lead the entire second half.

Dec. 28-Jan. 7

Men’s basketball

Dec. 29 at Toledo

Oakland came back from a 17-point second half deficit, but the effort just wasn’t enough as they lost 71-69 in Ohio. The Golden Grizzlies tied the game at 69-69, but the University of Toledo’s Tyrone Kent spoiled the comeback victory with a layup with three seconds remaining. Sophomore Johnathon Jones scored 29 points for OU.

Jan. 3 at South Dakota State

OU defeated Summit League newcomers South Dakota State by a score of 73-72. Williams set a new career high in points with 19 and earned his first career start after Kangas re-injured his shoulder. Kangas is expected to sit out for the Jan. 12 match up against Oral Roberts University. 

Jan. 5 at North Dakota State

This game proved to be another close call for Oakland, but they prevailed with a 73-71 decision over the Bison. Jones’ 21 points helped OU snap North Dakota State’s 16-game winning streak at home.

Women’s basketball

Jan. 2 vs. Rochester College

 Oakland dominated Rochester College with a 99-19 victory. The win was the largest in Division I history for the Golden Grizzlies. At one point, Oakland went on a 42-0 run. Freshman Brittany Carnago scored a career-high 21 points on 10-of-10 shooting from the floor. The win clinched Oakland’s best start in school history at 9-3.

Jan. 5 at South Dakota State

Oakland continued to add to their historic start with an 80-67 victory over new Summit League member, South Dakota State. April Kidd poured in a career-high 22 points.

Jan. 7 at North Dakota State

The Golden Grizzlies couldn’t overcome 11 3-pointers from the Jackrabbits and fell 81-71, snapping a four-game winning streak. Jessica Pike led OU with 18 points.

Men’s and women’s swimming

Jan. 5 at Florida International Invitational

The men and women’s swim teams wrapped up their winter training trip in Florida January 5 with the Florida International University Invitational. Both teams finished second out of four teams, with the men scoring 102 points and the women scoring 98.

The men’s 400-yard medley relay team took first place, as Patrick Downing, Nicholas Bonucchi, Chris Tansel and Andy Kellogg clocked in at 3:32.19.