In the final home game of their collegiate careers, Oakland University seniors Keith Benson, Will Hudson and Larry Wright gave the capacity crowd of 4,000 fans one last game to remember them by in Saturday night’s 105-96 win.

The three stalwarts combined for 57 points on a night when the Golden Grizzlies (20-9, 15-1) needed every ounce of offense it could muster against South Dakota State.

Wright racked 22 points after being inserted into the starting lineup for Senior Night and displayed the type of scoring prowess that hadn’t been on display since earlier in the season.

“Larry was fabulous,” Grizzlies coach Greg Kampe said. “I told him we’re starting him, he’s meant a lot to the program, he’s gotten us two championships, and (he needs) to go out the right way. He really played great.”

Benson and Hudson were true to form, dominating inside the paint and taking advantage of the Jackrabbits’ lack of a post presence. Benson recorded 18 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks, while Hudson was a perfect 5-of-5 from the field, finishing with 17 points and six boards.

The Grizzlies led the entire second half after taking a 54-49 advantage into the break. SDSU cut the Oakland lead to just two points with 12:30 remaining, but the margin was widened back to nine points before the Jackrabbits would score again.

“Very similar to the game at (SDSU), almost the exact same score, a lot of great athletes playing basketball and it was fun to watch,” Kampe said. “They’re as good offensively as we are. They just don’t have the post presence that we do. They’re a team that can play and they scare the heck out of me.”

It wasn’t just the seniors that propelled OU to victory, however.

Junior Reggie Hamilton dished out a career-high 11 assists, often freeing up Wright for open shots.

“I owed it to those seniors to get them the basketball, and I think we did a great job of sending them out on top,” Hamilton said. “Any day it could be any of one of us, either me or Larry or Travis Bader,” Hamilton said. “In the tournament, I’m looking forward to more performances from Larry like that.”

Bader, a redshirt freshman, connected on six 3-pointers and tied Wright with a team-high 22 points. His strong performance was a welcomed sight to Kampe as Bader shot just 17 percent in the two previous games.

“He’s the key to our team,” Kampe said. “You can’t defend Benson and Hudson if (Bader) is out there bombing 3-pointers. When he’s on, we’re going to score 100 points.”

With the regular season title and the top seed in next month’s Summit League Tournament already wrapped up, the Grizzlies have two road games remaining on the docket.

“We’re going to keep playing (normally),” Kampe said. “We have way too much to play for and we’ve got to be ready. This league has some good teams and if we go in (to UMKC and Southern Utah) thinking we’re going to walk to a title, we’re going to get beat. We’ve got to be playing at our best.”

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Dan Fenner is the Senior Editor of The Oakland Post and covers Oakland University basketball.  You can follow him on Twitter @DanFenner for updates and analysis throughout the week.