For the first time in three years, Oakland found itself playing for an NCAA Tournament berth on Tuesday night. And for the first time since joining the Horizon League, the Golden Grizzlies converted on the opportunity to advance.
Oakland will officially head to its fourth Division I NCAA Tournament in program history, and the first since 2011.
The Golden Grizzlies started the game blistering hot, unlike Monday night’s semifinal. On Monday night, Oakland went 4:55 without scoring to start the game.
In Tuesday night’s championship game, all five Oakland starters scored a point before the under-16-minute media timeout.
Horizon League Player of the Year Trey Townsend scored 11 first-half points to help the Golden Grizzlies to a 37-33 lead at the break. Jack Gohlke added six points on two 3-pointers.
Blake Lampman had eight points at halftime on 3-7 shooting, including 2-6 from beyond the arc. Chris Conway, Osei Price and DQ Cole all made scoring contributions, as well.
For Milwaukee, the first-half scoring came from two main sources: Erik Pratt and B.J. Freeman.
In the second half, the teams continued to trade buckets. By the under-12-minute timeout in the second half, Oakland’s largest lead was seven points, and Milwaukee led by no more than three points.
Down starting guard Isaiah Jones and key contributor Rocket Watts, Oakland was forced to stick to a tight rotation late in the second half, which resulted in players becoming tired and exhausted during the most critical minutes of the season.
Townsend was visibly gassed late in the second half, but he powered through, especially on the offensive end of the floor. Veteran head coach Greg Kampe helped his team catch a breather by calling a timeout right before the under-8-minute timeout, so the Golden Grizzlies essentially got back-to-back breaks.
The senior conference player of the year was unstoppable late in the game. Playing the most important minutes of his basketball career, Townsend proved why he won the league’s most prestigious award.
Oakland’s offense ran through Townsend on every offensive possession late in the game, and, fittingly, ‘Mr. Oakland,’ as he’s been nicknamed, led the Golden Grizzlies to the NCAA Tournament.
He finished with a career-high 38 points as Oakland bested Milwaukee for the third time this season. In moments when Kampe’s previous teams failed to execute, Townsend took it upon himself to will Oakland to victory.
Now, the Horizon League Champion Golden Grizzlies will rest up and await their first game in the NCAA Tournament as a 14-seed against No. 3 seed Kentucky.
In recent NCAA Tournaments, lower-seeded teams have been increasingly successful. No. 15 seeds Oral Roberts and Saint Peter’s, as well as No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson, have all pulled off tremendous first-round upsets in the past five seasons.
Oakland will now have its chance to become college basketball’s next Cinderella.
The Golden Grizzlies NCAA Tournament appearance is scheduled for Thursday, March 21 at 7:10 p.m. on CBS.
