The Golden Grizzlies fell short to the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons on Saturday, Dec. 2, on the blacktop, 98-77.
Purdue Fort Wayne came out immediately, making a statement that set the tone for the remainder of the game. Isaiah Jones eventually got the Grizzlies their first points on the board with a euro-step layup to the basket, but Fort Wayne continued to have a response and scored seven straight.
The Grizzlies found themselves trailing at a 17-4 score, but Trey Townsend quickly heated up with an and-one play. The first half of the game featured numerous scoring runs and long-range shooting displays for the Mastodons, which became the story as another triple propelled them to a 46-39 lead at halftime.
The second half opened up with a thunderous dunk by Purdue Fort Wayne’s Anthony Roberts, who led all of their scorers with 20 points. His performance put Oakland on the back foot.
Oakland’s Jack Gohlke, though, managed to soften the blow with a triple, injecting a spark of hope into Oakland’s offense. His three was followed by a steal executed by Isaiah Jones as he was able to effortlessly score another layup of his own. But again, it was Fort Wayne’s accuracy beyond the arc that proved to be such a pivotal factor in widening the point differential.
The Mastodons had their largest lead of 32 with 8:41 to go. Amidst the struggles, D.Q. Cole emerged as a shining light for Oakland and visibly attempted to ignite a momentum shift. Cole’s valiant efforts and stellar performance should not be overlooked, as the newest addition to the Grizzlies ended the game with 21 points.
It was evident the Mastodons couldn’t be stopped in the second half, as they went 21-29 from the floor and made seven of their 10 threes, and they ended up coming out on top, securing the victory over the Golden Grizzlies.
Following a tough defeat, head coach Greg Kampe reflected on the game’s outcome and also emphasized the need for the team to stay focused and resilient moving forward.
“That has to be one of the greatest performances I’ve seen an opponent come in here and give,” Kampe said. “They were feeling it, they knew it, and I give them all the credit in the world. This game, we’re just gonna throw it away. I have a really good basketball team.
“There’s gonna be a lot of people who will question that after today. I know what I have. What we can’t do is we can’t allow the outside noise to put doubt in their mind in anything we do, and that’s what I talked about after the game. We come back Monday, and then we got Toledo and Eastern Michigan.”
Oakland will look to regroup and strive to rebound from this setback as they prepare and get ready for an electrifying matchup against Toledo at OU Credit O’Rena. The action will kick off on Wednesday, Dec. 6, at 7 p.m. as they honor and show gratitude on Military Appreciation Night.
