The Oakland men’s basketball team welcomed the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons to the O’rena on Thursday, Feb. 2, as the team looked to end its two game losing skid. Unfortunately for the Golden Grizzlies, the previously 6-6 Mastodons came to play, and they defeated Oakland on the blacktop, 83-72.

It was a rough game for Coach Greg Kampe’s team, which now slides into a three-game losing skid. The Golden Grizzlies never led on Thursday, and although they showed some fight at the end, it was still a bad blemish on an already unimpressive resumé.

Oakland fell behind by nine points less than four minutes into the game, but an impressive burst on their part then tied the game at 13 with 12:49 to go.

The Mastodons continued to fight, however, and they quickly put Oakland right back in a sizable hole. By the end of the first half, Oakland found itself down seven at home to a team that was a game behind in the Horizon League standings.

Oakland shot terribly from beyond the arc in the first half, shooting just 1-10 from distance. Despite the cold first half from Oakland, Purdue Fort Wayne didn’t exactly shoot the lights out, either, and the Golden Grizzlies were still in position to make a second-half comeback.

However, the Mastodons scored the first eight points of the second half, and they quickly built themselves a 15-point lead. 

Jalen Moore did everything he could, but the visiting Mastodons wouldn’t give up any ground as they maintained a double-digit lead for the majority of the second half.

Oakland cut the lead to four points with 51 seconds to go, but Purdue Fort Wayne was able to hold on to secure the victory.

Moore finished with 28 points on 7-22 shooting, including a perfect 12-12 from the free throw line. Junior forward Trey Townsend recorded a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds in 40 minutes.

“We got what we deserved,” Kampe said after the loss. “We did not come to play — that’s the first time I can sit here and say that, all year. And it’s really disappointing to me, because there was a lot on the line tonight, a lot at stake. We still had a chance to win the conference — we still had a chance to be a top four team.”

Despite Kampe’s disappointment, Oakland’s chances of winning the conference are not mathematically impossible, yet, and the Golden Grizzlies currently find themselves just two games out of fourth place in the league.

With seven regular-season games left, Moore knows it’s now or never. The fifth-year senior is currently in his final year of eligibility, and this is his last chance to have a shot at playing in the NCAA Tournament.

“Honestly, it’s just ‘how bad do we want it?’” Moore said. “I think I’ve been through this, two years, back-to-back years where we started off pretty hot and then towards the end of the season we just let it fade away. And, me being a leader, I can’t let that happen anymore.”