Golden Grizzlies ‘not ready for spotlight’, fall to Spartans 87-61

Sports

Sports

East Lansing, Mich.  — The Michigan State Spartans routed the Oakland University men’s basketball team on Sunday night in the Breslin Center, 87-61.

The defeat snapped a three-game winning streak for Oakland.

Senior forward Dante Williams led the Grizzlies with 15 points and added two rebounds in the loss. Sophomore point guard Kahlil Felder had five assists but made just three of 12 shots from the floor, scoring 13 points.

Senior center Corey Petros led the Golden Grizzlies with 10 rebounds and added 13 points, recording his fifth double-double of the season.

“We couldn’t make shots,” Coach Greg Kampe said after the game. It was the first time Oakland shot under 40 percent from the field this season.

Kampe felt that his young team wasn’t quite ready for the spotlight that playing MSU brought.

Oakland is now 4-6 with four more tough road games ahead this month.

“We travel to Arizona next game, and we aren’t getting out of that because of this game,” Kampe said.

The No. 3 Arizona Wildcats host Oakland at 9 p.m. ET Tuesday night.

The Spartans, 7-3, were lead by Denzel Valentine with 19 points and four assists. Valentine is the younger brother of former Oakland University star Drew Valentine.

Branden Dawson added 15 points and six rebounds for Michigan State, with Bryn Forbes adding 12 points. Marvin Clark Jr. also had 12 for the Spartans.