With a 71-58 victory over IPFW Monday night, Oakland University’s men’s basketball team advanced to the Summit League Championship game thanks to a second half surge and a season-high 23 points from sophomore Blake Cushingberry.

“When you play a long season, you have to win in different ways,” OU head coach Greg Kampe said. “And tonight we won, we made our free throws, obviously, and that was huge. It was a very brutal, physical game and that was to our advantage.”

The Golden Grizzlies trailed by one point at halftime, but quickly regained a lead and expanded it in the second half.

Inserted into the starting lineup again for the injured Drew Maynard, Cushingberry was eight out of 12 from the field and collected several loose balls and important rebounds in the second half.

“Me on offense is just a bonus to this team,” Cushingberry said.

An improved defensive effort allowed Oakland to go on a 16-2 scoring run in the second half and break the game wide open.

“It was just a matter of time,” Kampe said. “The way we defended in the second half, I never felt a worry.”

IPFW was unable to find an answer to the riddle of defending Keith Benson as he scored 17 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and blocked six shot attempts. Benson now has a double-double in four of five career tournament games.

The Mastodons regularly employed double and triple-teams when Benson got the ball in the paint, but he countered by passing the ball back out to an open teammate for open shots on several occasions.

“I knew the (double-team) was coming every time and I tried to just get low and get good balance and find my teammates at the 3-point line,” Benson said.

The Grizzlies led by as many as nine points in the first half, but IPFW went on an 8-0 scoring run in the final 3:48 before the break to make it 39-38 Mastodons.

The deciding moment may have been with 2:14 remaining when Cushingberry hit a 3-pointer from the corner immediately following Benson’s sixth block.

Junior guard Larry Wright put the game away by going six for six at the free throw line in the final minute and a half.

Nick Daniels led the Mastodons with 16 points, which included four 3-pointers.

One of the more notable statistics from the game was the number of times each team went to the foul line. Oakland was a perfect 19-of-19 while IPFW attempted just one free throw total.

OU also set a new high-mark for wins in program history as it improved to 25-8 on the season. But it’s the 26th win that will count the most if the Grizzlies are to acheive their ultimate goal Tuesday night.

“After losing last year, our focus was to get back here. And now that we can actually say we’re (in the championship), we just want to finish it,” senior Johnathon Jones said.

The Grizzlies carry a school-record 10 consecutive wins into a showdown with No. 2 IUPUI tomorrow.

“I’m happy to be in the championship,” Derick Nelson said. “This is what I came back for. We haven’t forgotten how last year ended and we’re just ready for tomorrow.”

The Summit League Championship game is Tuesday night at 9 p.m. eastern time.

More photos from the game can be viewed at this link: http://media.inertiasports.net/albums.php?albumId=107594