The month of December wasn’t kind to the Oakland University men’s basketball team, as they went 4-6.
January didn’t start out much better.
The Golden Grizzlies dropped their fifth consecutive game on Tuesday night, falling 89-80 to Oral Roberts. The loss snapped Oakland’s 31-game home winning streak against conference opponents.
In what will likely be the Golden Eagles’ final game at OU – they will be moving to the Southland Conference next season – ORU showcased a scintillating shooting touch, going 34-of-51 from the field, good for 66.7%.
Three-point shooting defense, the bane of Oakland this season, once again hurt the Grizzlies. Senior ORU forward Dominique Morrison led the charge in that department, going 6-of-8 from behind the arc en route to scoring 20 points.
After starting out the season with a program-best six non-conference wins at 6-2, Oakland has gone cold in nearly every category. Freshman Corey Petros has seemingly lost the touch he showcased early on this season, having not corralled double digit rebounds since an 84-82 loss against Ohio in early December. Sophomore sharpshooter Travis Bader has struggled mightily with his shot over the last seven games, shooting just 20% from beyond the arc.
The one constant on offense has been senior Reggie Hamilton, who tallied 28 points, six steals, and five assists on Tuesday. With the 28 points, Hamilton raised his scoring average to 23.2 points per game, good for third best in the nation.
A bright spot for Oakland was sophomore Ryan Bass’ most complete game since returning from a five-game absence due to concussion-like symptoms suffered after a collision in a December practice. The Dayton, OH native scored six points, grabbed three rebounds, and dished out five assists – tied with Hamilton for most against ORU. His ballhawking style of defense will also be a welcome return to the Grizzlies’ lineup.
Things don’t get much easier for OU in their January schedule, as the team will look to get back to .500 against Western Illinois this Thursday at 7 p.m.
The Leathernecks are 7-5 this season (2-2 in the Summit League) and have senior guard Ceola Clark III back after he missed 24 games last season due to a toe injury. The 2009-10 Summit League Defensive Player of the Year is averaging 12.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 1.9 steals this season.
Ref: OUGrizzlies, ESPN, The Oakland Post (photo)
