Men’s Basketball

The men’s basketball team was on the road this past weekend for two games against teams at the top of the Horizon League. On Thursday, Feb. 7 they traveled to Dayton, Ohio to face off against the Wright State Raiders, losing 76-62.

The Golden Grizzlies held a 41-35 halftime lead, but after halftime, Wright State pulled ahead. The Raiders went on a run to start the second half, largely fueled by defense. Oakland didn’t score a single point after five minutes had passed, and the Raiders dominated the second half. Wright State outscored Oakland 41-21 in the second half, as Oakland fell to 7-5 in the Horizon League.

On Saturday, Feb. 9 the Golden Grizzlies took on No. 1 Northern Kentucky (NKU) in Cincinnati. In the previous NKU vs. Oakland game, the Golden Grizzlies won 76-73 on their home court. This time around, it was Northern Kentucky who emerged victorious, 79-64.

Oakland held a lead in this game as well, as the halftime buzzer sounded with the Golden Grizzlies on top, 36-32. However the Norse were able to play like the No. 1 team in the league, as Drew McDonald had 21 points and 13 rebounds. The Norse reached their 20th overall win, and Oakland fell to 7-6 in the Horizon League, putting them fourth in the conference.

Women’s Basketball

Kahlaijah Dean set a career high of 30 points against conference rival University of Detroit Mercy Titans in Detroit on Saturday, Feb. 9. as Oakland won their second Horizon League game, 76-65. The win moved the Golden Grizzlies to eighth in the conference standings.

Dean was efficient, hitting 66 percent of her shots and hitting nine 3-pointers en route to her new career high. She also added seven rebounds and two steals. Taylor Jones filled up the stat sheet as well, scoring 21 points to go along with eight rebounds and four assists. Both of the Golden Grizzlies’ wins this season have been against Detroit, winning the Metro Series in women’s basketball.

Track and Field

The track teams had two meets this past week, the Iowa State Classic and the GVSU Big Meet. Multiple school and personal records were broken by both men and women this weekend.

Zach Stadnika added to his impressive season, breaking another school record, this time in the pole vault. His 14 ft, 5.5 in jump is now the Oakland University record. To begin February, he broke the school record in the 60m hurdles, placing third at the Notre Dame Meyo Invite with a time of 8.17.

Rachel Levy broke a school record in the 5000m run with a time of 16:36.31, which was good for seventh at the meet. This was her third school record broken in the last month. She was named Horizon League runner of the week for the week of Jan. 14-20 after she broke the school record in the 3000m run.

Other notable finishes include: Chanel Gardner took eighth place in the 200m run with a time of 25.00, Jimmie Williams took sixth place in the 200m run with a time of 21.80 and Marcus Nellum taking first place in the 200m run with a time of 22.14.