With seven pro-scouts and an attendance of 2,935 to see some two of the elite Summit League guards in Oakland University’s Reggie Hamilton and South Dakota State’s Nate Wolters face off, sophomore guard Travis Bader stole the show in the 92-87 win.

Bader, who hasn’t started the past five games, finished 10-of-14 (71 percent) from the three-point line breaking the previous OU record of nine treys made, held by Calvin Wooten against Albany in 2005.

On top of the Oakland records, Bader has tied the best three-point output in Division 1 this season.

“I just want to do whatever I can to help the team and if that means coming off the bench and bringing energy and hitting shots, I’m going to do that,” Bader said.

Drew Valentine had an impressive stat-line, shooting 7-of-12 from the field and finished with 19 points, eight rebounds, and three steals. Ryan Bass scored ten points and four assists.

“Drew (Valentine’s) stats mean nothing to me. I’ve said this since the day of the season started: he’s my MVP,” Kampe said. “He’s the guy that makes us go.”

Reggie Hamilton, although finishing with 16 points, had only two total points until under 11 minutes to play in the second half. That doesn’t mean Hamilton wasn’t effective in the other ways in the offense; he also had eight assists.

“I think because the ball wasn’t going in for Reggie, we had to find other options. We don’t get a lot of assists because we score of the dribble (most of the time).”

Star SDSU guard Nate Wolters had 21 points and eight rebounds. Forward Jordan Dykstra had the hot hand for the Jack Rabbits, going five-of-eight from the three-point line, and had 21 points and ten rebounds.

“(Wolters) is a wonderful player,” Kampe said. “He’s a pro and going to make a lot of money playing basketball. I thought we did a nice job (of guarding him).”

After going into halftime with a six point deficit, the Grizzlies opened the second half with a 15-4 run including back to back three-pointers from Bader and a dunk from Valentine.

“The locker room was pretty upset … we did not play with energy in the first half. I thought we were dead for some reason,” Kampe said. “We came out in the second half with great emotion and desire and we got the crowd in the game.”

The Grizzlies (12-11, 6-5 Summit) are 4-1 in their past five games, which Kampe attributes to the team peaking at the right time.

“We pride ourselves in peaking and getting better. The records show that,” Kampe said. “This team is poised to try and make a run and go into that tournament playing as well as they can possibly can play. We’ve got a chance even though we’ve stumbled.”

The Grizzlies have a chance to redeem themselves again with North Dakota State Bison coming to the O’rena on Jan. 28 at 6:00 p.m.

Oakland lost to the Bison 96-69 earlier in the season on Dec.28.

“That was our worst game of the year. It was demoralizing to get beat like that,” Valentine said. “We’re not satisfied. I’m happy we won (tonight), but we’re ready to come out Saturday and get that one, too.”

The quality play from the Grizzlies in the second half of January has the Kampe optimistic for the rest of the season.

“(We’re) a young team and it’s a team that’s learning,” Kampe said. “We still have a chance to get 20 wins and have four straight 20-win seasons.”

——————————-

Kevin Romanchik is the Sports Editor for the Oakland Post. He covers the men’s basketball team for Oakland University as well as other local sports. You can email him at [email protected], and follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Ro.