Oakland University head coach Greg Kampe, disappointed with his team’s effort and defense, says it has to get better or it will be a long season.

Oakland fell to 0-2 on the season losing 89-77 at the Convocation Center in Ypsilanti on Monday night. The win improves Eastern Michigan University’s record to 2-0 and gives them their first victory against the Golden Grizzlies in the Convocation Center.

The Eagles were led by redshirt sophomore Raven Lee with 24 points and senior forward Karrington Ward with 22 points, both of whom dominated in the late stages of the second half to secure the victory for the home team.

Max Hooper was the leading scorer for the Golden Grizzlies, scoring 18 points on six 3-pointers, all of which coming in the second half. Kahil Felder and Tommie McCune had 15 points each, while Corey Petros scored 13 for Oakland.

Eastern Michigan led by as many as 13 in the first half, but Oakland was able to bounce back and only trailed by three going into the half. Oakland even led by six in the early stages of the second half, but the lead did not last long. Oakland only led for 4:26 in the game, while Eastern Michigan held the lead for 32:16.

Coach Kampe said that he was very disappointed in the team’s effort, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Eastern Michigan had 16 offensive rebounds on 31 missed field goals and shot 49 percent from the floor. Turnovers were also an issue as the Golden Grizzlies turned over the ball 14 times, six of which coming from Tommie McCune.

Even though this was just the second game of the season and a non-league game, Kampe said that this game was very important because of recruiting. He says that all in-state games are important and he feels that his team did not treat it that way.

“They wanted to win the game and we played like we just wanted to play. The behavior is going to change or it is going to be a very long year,” Kampe said. “That type of effort in a game like this is nobody’s fault but the coach’s … I’ll take 100 percent of the blame.”

The Golden Grizzlies will face another in-state opponent on Wednesday night as they take on the Western Michigan University Broncos at the Athletics Center O’rena. The game can be seen on TV20 and also streaming on ESPN3. It will be the start of a six-game home stretch for Oakland.