Thursday night’s rivalry matchup between Oakland University and Oral Roberts was every bit the battle head coach Greg Kampe predicted it would be.

The Golden Grizzlies (15-8, 10-0) were admittedly dissatisfied with their play despite the 88-85 win, as turnovers and missed free throws at times threatened to derail OU’s continuing bid for an undefeated Summit League season.

“Oral Roberts has a great team and tonight was like a championship game,” junior Reggie Hamilton said. “To get this win and beat them twice this season is great. The way we pulled it out was even greater. That’s probably the worst conference (game) we’ve played all season by far, and I pray it can’t get any worse than that.”

With 1:10 remaining in the game, Hamilton dribbled down court and drilled a 3-point shot to give Oakland a seemingly insurmountable 10-point lead. But Oral Roberts did not relent, scoring points on their next four possessions while in desperation mode.

Following a pair of free throws by Hamilton with 14 seconds remaining, ORU’s Warren Niles sank a 3-pointer to cut Oakland’s lead to a single point, 86-85. Another pair of crucial free throw makes by Hamilton gave the Grizzlies a 3-point lead, which ultimately held up when the Golden Eagles missed a long-distance shot at the final buzzer.

“I think these games are good for us,” Kampe said. “I think our culture won that game for us tonight. The idea that we don’t lose games (at the O’rena) and that we believe in ourselves. We’ve built a little bit of a monster and I think tonight that monster helped us because I really believed they deserved to beat us and we just found a way to win.”

The four-point deficit the Grizzlies faced early in the second half was the largest the team had trailed after halftime in any conference game this season.

The highlight play and turning point of the evening came with 11:40 remaining when Travis Bader fed Keith Benson with an alley-oop pass that he slammed through the basket to give Oakland a 57-56 lead. The crowd erupted into a frenzy as Benson showed uncharacteristic emotion after completing the emphatic dunk.

OU did not relinquish its lead again following the play.

Benson finished the game with 20 points and eight rebounds, while teammate Will Hudson recorded career-highs in points (22) and blocks (four).

“You know, Benson going to get his points because he’s a great player,” Oral Roberts coach Scott Sutton said. “But I told our guys when we played (Oakland) the first time that I don’t think there’s a guy in college basketball that plays any harder than Will Hudson does. If we had some of our guys play as hard as he does we’d be a much better basketball team.”

The Grizzlies were forced once again to overcome an injury when senior guard Larry Wright re-aggravated an ankle injury that had kept him out of the starting lineup of late. Just minutes into the game, Wright went tumbling off the court into the first row of seats chasing after a loose ball and collided with a stair railing.

With Wright out again, Hamilton resumed the point guard duties and had an up and down performance. He recorded 21 points, eight assists and six steals, but also struggled by committing eight turnovers.

“I thought that last six minutes of the game put us on his back and carried us,” Kampe said. “He made two big 3-pointers and he was unbelievable at the free throw line. I really credit him, and we talked in the locker room after. (He was) great and he took a huge step toward getting that ring that he wants to bad.”

“In his maturation as a basketball player, tonight was a big night for (Hamilton). And he’ll take what he learned and help us win the rest of the year. I could have sat him on the bench, but our whole (focus) is on March, so this was a learning moment for him tonight and he handled it very well.”

With its Summit League record now up to 10-0, Oakland will put its 18-game conference winning streak on the line next against Centenary on Saturday. The game will be OU’s third-annual Homecoming game as part of a doubleheader with the women’s team. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.

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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.