It wasn’t easy and it sure wasn’t pretty, but the Oakland University men’s basketball team went out a winner in the regular season finale by hanging on to an 86-83 win over IPFW Saturday night at home.

With the victory, the Golden Grizzlies finished 17-1 in Summit League play, the highest winning percentage in conference history.

“I told the team that if we (won tonight), we had to go win the tournament, because if you win 17 games and don’t win the tournament, nobody is going to call you the greatest team in the history of the league,” OU head coach Greg Kampe said. 

Grizzlies junior center Keith Benson moved into second all-time in blocks in Summit League history Saturday.The Grizzlies went ahead by 10 points with 1:30 remaining in the game off a Larry Wright 3-pointer, but IPFW refused to give in.

Oakland made just five out of 12 free throw attempts as the Mastodons clawed back into the game in the final minute with three Jeremy Mixon layups in a span of just 18 seconds.

The comeback bid fell just short as a 3-point attempt by Zach Plackemeier bounced off the front of the rim as time expired.

“They knew we needed a three and something sprung open for Zach Plackemeier to have a shot,” Mastodons head coach Dane Fife said. “I thought he could have taken another dribble to get closer, but the shot looked like it was in.”

Kampe said he was not happy with the way his team performed in the closing minutes, but accepted that his team was bound to have a game like this over the course of the season and was happy to get the victory nonetheless. 

“I’ve never seen us miss free throws like that, I’ve never seen us make the mistakes we made, but we got a break,” Kampe said. “Then we made another mistake and let (Plackemeier) get open and shoot it, but we got lucky. One of these days we’re going to get caught if we’re not a little more careful.”

The trouble for OU all seemed to start when junior center Keith Benson fouled out of the game with 2:56 remaining. The Mastodons had had no answer for Benson all game long as he scored a career-high 32 points off a variety of dunks, layups and even a 3-pointer from the top of the arc. He also had 10 rebounds and four blocks, moving into second place in career blocks in conference history.

“It was the one-on-one defense,” Benson said. “My teammates were able to get me the ball in the right spots and find me for open looks.”

Fife said he saw definite NBA potential in Benson’s performance tonight and all season long.

“I think it really came down to Oakland’s size and we just couldn’t stop Keith Benson for the first three-fifths of the game,” Fife said.

Oakland’s defense on the night was inconsistent.

After cutting the Grizzlies lead down to a single point, 30-29, IPFW was held without a point in the last 5:25 of the first half.

Oakland scored the final nine points of the first half, and carried a 39-29 lead into the locker room. 

Derick Nelson, one of Oakland’s two seniors honored for their last home game, re-aggravated a groin injury he sustained two weeks ago in the opening minute of the second half and didn’t return to the game. 

In addition to Benson, two other Grizzlies scored in double figures. Senior Johnathon Jones had a double-double with 16 points and 10 assists, while junior Larry Wright put up 17 points.

IPFW was led offensively by forwards Trey McCorkle and Deilvez Yearby, who scored 25 and 23 points, respectively.

The Grizzlies will travel to Sioux Falls, S.D. this week for an opening round matchup on Saturday afternoon.