Oakland University senior guard Duke Mondy hit a 3-pointer as time expired to land the Golden Grizzlies (8-14, 3-4 Horizon) a 76-75 homecoming victory over the University of Chicago at Illinois (5-16, 0-7)  on Saturday, Jan. 25.

The Grizzlies’ homecoming matchup featured a crowd of almost 3,000, all of whom were able to contribute to the excitement.

“You could see the crowd’s energy rise, and then the players energy rise,” OU head coach Greg Kampe said.

Oakland trailed for much of the game. It wasn’t until they switched to a full-court press that fueled the Grizzly rally.

“We were in a desperate situation and we thought by going full court maybe we’d get some energy,” Kampe said.

That’s exactly what happened for OU. Their offense was stagnant for much of the game, forcing them to lean on their defensive pressure to generate points. The Grizzlies won the turnover battle 22-7. Those turnovers led to 31 OU points.

Mondy helped generate those turnovers with six steals in the game. Two of the pick-pockets came in back-to-back possessions, helping the Grizzlies close the gap after trailing by 10 with as many minutes to go, cutting it to 52-46.

“At half-time we talked about not playing with pride, and that we should be ashamed about wearing these jerseys,” Mondy said. “It was a gut-check in the locker room and we wanted to come out with more passion.”

The Grizzlies shot only 34 percent from the field in the first half and allowed the Flames to shoot 53 percent, many of which came from Flames guard Kelsey Barlow. Barlow had 14 first-half points and finished the game with 20. Teammate Jordan Harks led the way for UIC with 21.

While the Oakland offense was struggling, they leaned heavily on freshman point guard Kahlil Felder for their scoring. Felder had a team-high 21 points and nine assists.

“I just had confidence in myself,” Felder said. “I’ve been in the gym all week, and hours before and after practice, and just want to make sure that I can create something.”

It was Felder who created OU’s first lead of the second-half when he drew an and-one foul to give the Grizzlies a one-point advantage at 71-70 with 1:21 left on the clock. He was called on again to tie the game at 73 after Barlow had a 3-point play of his own.

With 10 seconds remaining, UIC was looking for the last shot, but OU senior guard Travis Bader fouled UIC forward Pat Birt to send him to the line with four seconds left. Birt knocked down both free throws to give the Flames a two-point lead with moments left for Oakland.

Kampe then called a timeout to draw up a play.

“We had two options, we went with option number two,” Kampe said. “It was, Duke, put your shoulder down and go.”

Mondy did exactly that, and gathered a clean look when he let the shot go at the top of the key with under a second left.

“It was just a regular shot,” he said. “I’d like to think I have ice in my veins, I wasn’t really nervous.”

The shot was briefly under review. Once the referees signaled it was good, Grizzly fans rushed the floor.

“We played the last 10 minutes of this game,” Kampe said. “Usually when you play with the passion that these kids played with in the last 10 minutes did, you’re going to win at home.”

Oakland will stay home to match up against Youngstown State next Friday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m.