The Golden Grizzlies lost their first Horizon League game of the season on a last second tip-in, falling to the Youngstown State Penguins 100-98 Monday night at the O’rena.

Playing their third game in six nights, the Golden Grizzlies seemed to come out a little sluggish and gave Youngstown State a lot of open looks, especially from three, where the Penguins shot 50 percent for the night.

Kay Felder led the way for Oakland in scoring with 23 points, continuing his streak of scoring 20 points or more in every game this season.  He also tied his career-high with 14 assists. The Golden Grizzlies featured a balanced scoring attack as five players scored double figures, including a career-high 21 from Nick Daniels. Jalen Hayes recorded his sixth double-double of the season with 16 points and 12 rebounds. 

Head coach Greg Kampe told reporters after the game that the offense was not the issue, but the defense and effort was disheartening. 

“You are supposed to win when you score 98 points at home, it was all about our defense,” Kampe said. “Every team has games like this, but great teams find ways to win and we found a way to lose.”

The game came down to the wire as both teams traded leads late in the second half, but it was tied at 98 in the final seconds. Youngstown State missed a layup, but tipped the ball back in with one second remaining. 

The referees discussed the call for several minutes, as it was unclear if they got the shot off in time or if there was offensive goaltending, but they gave the Penguins the basket and Oakland could not get a shot off before the buzzer.

It was a tough loss for a team that has big aspirations in the Horizon League, especially with the preseason favorite Valparasio heading into town Friday night. 

Felder told reporters afterwards that the game was not an example of looking forward to Friday, but simply not being ready to play on this specific night.

“Definitely a wake up call, we are going to have to get ready for the next one. We can’t do the same things tonight on Friday,” Felder said.

Oakland hosts Valparaiso at 7 p.m. on Friday at the O’rena. 

It will be a white out game and the first 200 fans get an Oakland University rally towel. The game will also be televised on ESPN 2.