A rundown of the week in sports at Oakland University.

Hoops season starts

The Golden Grizzlies men’s basketball team (1-1) picked up its first victory of the season Monday night by defeating Ohio University, an NCAA Tournament team from a year ago, 78-66, on the road.

With star center Keith Benson limited to just 19 minutes of playing time due to foul trouble, Oakland University received significant contributions from a multitude of players.

Sophomore Ledrick Eackles shook off a subpar performance in Friday’s loss to West Virginia and put up 18 points to lead the team in scoring.

Oakland starting backcourt combination of Larry Wright and Reggie Hamilton each reached double-figures, scoring 15 and 14 points, respectively. Wright also added a career-high nine rebounds.

An 18-0 Grizzlies run in the first half put separation between the two teams. After that run, Ohio only came within seven points the rest of the game.

Junior Ilija Milutinovic had arguably the best game of his career with eight points and nine rebounds, while playing extended minutes in place of the foul-plagued Benson.

Watterworth shines

Two games into the women’s basketball season, sophomore Bethany Watterworth has already justified her selection to the preseason all-conference team.

While the Grizzlies have yet to square off against a conference foe, Watterworth has picked up right where she left off last season by scoring 17 and 26 points in OU’s first two games.

Oakland (1-1) suffered a narrow defeat Friday against in-state rival Detroit Mercy, but found better success against Illinois-Chicago Monday, defeating the Flames 69-58.

Junior center Brittany Carnago looked more comfortable in her second game back from last season’s injury, putting up nine points and pulling down six rebounds.

Oakland will host Penn State in the home opener Thursday at the O’Rena. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m.

A disappointing end

Despite winning its final match of the season Saturday, Oakland’s volleyball team narrowly missed out on qualifying for its first-ever Summit League Tournament. The Grizzlies (17-13) finished with the same 12-6 conference record as Southern Utah and South Dakota State, but lost out on tie-breakers to the two schools.

Sophomore outside hitter Meghan Bray broke OU’s single-season record for kills (360) in Saturday’s win over UMKC.

Oakland’s 17 wins in 2010 tied for the most in school history, a mark that was previously established last year when the Grizzlies also finished fifth in the Summit due to developments on the final day of the season.

Oakland nabs recruits

Two new recruits were officially announced Friday as local talents Matt Poches and Dante Williams signed National Letters of Intent to play basketball at OU next season.

Poches, a 6-4, 175-pound shooting guard from Hartland High School, chose Oakland over Central Michigan, Western Michigan and The Citadel. Grizzlies head coach Greg Kampe described Poches as “a kid that you cannot stop from getting to the basket.” ESPN’s recruiting service pegs him as the 62nd best player at his position in the nation.

Williams, a small forward, helped lead his high school, Ann Arbor Huron, to the Class A state championship game last season. He is best known for his 3-point shooting ability. At 6-6, 165 pounds, Williams could have an opportunity to take advantage of OU’s lack of depth at his position early in his career, but Kampe said he will need to get bigger and stronger.

OU has at least one more scholarship to give next season, as three seniors will depart the program at season’s end.

The OU women also added three new

members to its team on signing day. Shelby Herrington, Lauren Robak and Halle Wangler all signed National Letters of Intent with the Grizzlies.

“This is a great, hardworking group of players,” Francis said in a statement released by the university. “They are all from winning programs, which will help them as they prepare to come in and compete on the collegiate level.”

Robak is a 5-9 guard from Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes High School. She had a very consistent playing career at the high school level and scored 30 points to lead the Lakers to the Class D state championship last season. She is Our Lady of the Lakes all-time leading scorer with 1,500 career points.

Herrington is a 6-2 forward from Hemlock, Mich. She averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds in her final high school season. She was selected to play in the McDonald’s High School All-American game.

Wangler is a fast-tempo, 5-9 guard from Royal Oak Shrine. After a junior season in which she averaged nearly 20 points and five assists, she was named to the All-State second team and also collected All-Catholic School and all-area recognition.