Senior Travis Bader scored 30 points and went 8-for-13 from behind the arc as the Oakland University men’s basketball team (10-17, 5-7 Horizon) defeated the University of Detroit Mercy (12-15, 5-7) 83-82 in an overtime thriller in front of a record-breaking O’rena crowd on Valentine’s night.

“Rivalry Week: North Carolina-Duke, Michigan-Ohio State, Syracuse-Pittsburgh,” OU head coach Greg Kampe said, acknowledging the two teams’ strong but infantile rivalry.

Over 4,000 people crowded into the O’rena as they watched Bader and Detroit’s Juwan Howard Jr. go back and forth for their respective squads. The two players combined for 63 points in the game.

“Insane,” Bader said about the crowd.  “I think that was one of the best games I’ve been a part of since I’ve been here. I’ve never the O’rena rockin’ like this.”

It was an exciting match for the crowd, as the teams traded leads 14 times and were knotted up another eight.

“Heck of an effort by both teams, it was kind of a who got the last shot pretty much,” Titan head coach Ray McCallum said. “These guys played their butts off and it was just disappointing for us.” 

For the first time in Horizon League play, the Golden Grizzlies led at halftime, 38-36, much to do with Bader’s four first half triples, and the game was just beginning.

Ralph Hill started in place of a suspended Tommie McCune, and had his best game as a Division I player. Hill scored a career-high 11 points for the Grizzlies, helping them push their lead to nine early in the second half.

The Titans stormed back to regain the lead in a stretch where Howard Jr. went on a 7-0 run by his lonesome. Howard Jr. finished the game with 33 points even after briefly sitting out with a knee injury.

OU found themselves down by three with 39 seconds left in regulation after a couple of Howard free throws, 77-74. 

It was OU freshman point guard Kahlil Felder who found Bader open on the wing for the game-tying 3-pointer with just 24 seconds remaining.

In a scrappy end to the second half, the Titans couldn’t put the ball in on either of their two looks. 77-77 overtime.

UDM grabbed a five-point lead halfway through the overtime period following a Howard 3-pointer, and it was Felder that brought his team back with four consecutive points.

Felder finished the game with a triple-double of 15 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds, just the eighth triple-double in Division I basketball this season.

After a big defensive stop, Oakland tried to ride Bader’s hot hand to take the lead, but he couldn’t put it in. Teammate Duke Mondy was there to bail him out with the offensive rebound.

“I don’t know why Bader missed, he was hot all day,” Mondy said. “Any other player probably wouldn’t have tried to get a rebound.”

Mondy found himself open from 12-feet and was able to make the short put-back jumper with 8.8 seconds left in overtime.

The Titans had one last play to flip the lead for a 15^th time.

“We wanted to ride our horse and put the ball in Juwan’s hands,” McCallum said.

Howard Jr. had a chance to win the game again for the Titans, but an Oakland trap just inside of half court forced him to heave a low-percentage shot that missed way short.

“It came down to the last shot, but it also came down to defense and rebounding, we got out-rebounded and let them shoot too well,” Howard Jr. said.

Kampe was excited about his team’s defense in the waning seconds.

“This team had not gotten big stops, and that’s the reason the record is the way it is,” Kampe said, “but tonight, with the game on the line, we got the stop and again in overtime, got another one.”

The Grizzlies are set to take on Wright State this Sunday, Feb. 16, at 1 p.m. for their second-to-last home game of the regular season.