Oakland University’s dream season finally met its end Friday afternoon, as the men’s basketball team could not pull off the unlikely upset against Pittsburgh, falling 89-66 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in Milwaukee, Wis.

“We’re disappointed, obviously, that we weren’t able to win the game,” Oakland head coach Greg Kampe said. “We really believed we could come into this tournament and try and get a win.”

From the very start, Oakland could not sink the shots it needed to make to be successful. OU shot just 33 percent on a night in which it was competitive in most other areas of the game.

“We didn’t make shots. Now, are they bigger than who we normally play against? Yes. Are they more athletic than who we normally play against? Sure. But if you look around, watched the games yesterday, the teams that get the upsets are the teams that make shots,” Kampe said.

For the first ten minutes of the game, however, it appeared that Oakland could hang with its Big East Conference opponent. OU forced several turnovers and drew several fouls to seize a five-point lead minutes unto the game.

“I thought that we had it going just the way we wanted it to go,” Kampe said. “I thought we were defending extremely well. We were on the boards. We weren’t giving them second shots.”

But the game took a significant turn when the Grizzlies lost senior forward Derick Nelson at the midway point of the first half after he was elbowed in the head by Panthers center Gary McGhee. Nelson was attended to for several minutes and was bleeding from his left temple.

“I was running for a rebound, and I just seen a elbow coming toward my face,” Nelson said. “I tried to get out of the way but I got hit. I mean, I’m all right. Injuries happen.”

At the time of the injury, Oakland held a four-point lead, but was outscored 29-12 in the final 10:23 of the half with Nelson receiving stitches in the locker room.

With one minute remaining in the half, the Panthers had pushed their lead to a first half-high 17 points, but late field goals by Blake Cushingberry and Benson made it 39-26 heading into the break.

Nelson returned for the second half after receiving six stitches near his left eye, but the game was almost decisively in the hands of the Panthers by then.

Pittsburgh maintained its double-digit halftime lead throughout the remainder of the game, with Oakland getting only as close as 14 points with five minutes remaining.

The deficit ballooned to 23 points as the Grizzlies failed to make a field goal in the closing minutes.

Six Panthers’ players scored in double figures as the team shot over 53 percent for the game.

Freshman Ledrick Eackles had 17 points for Oakland off the bench in his first trip to the NCAA Tournament.

“We lost. I’m happy that the team made it. I’m thankful for Derick Nelson and Johnathon Jones for helping us get us here,” Eackles said. “But I think we’ll see Oakland University in the NCAA tournament in the near future. Players are taking it hard, and we want to get back and start working out immediately so we can make it back here.”

View photos from the game today: http://www.flickr.com/photos/theoaklandpost/show/