Valparaiso had a higher shooting percentage. They had out-assisted and out-rebounded Oakland University. They had a 17-point second half lead on Saturday night.
Unfortunately for the Crusaders, they didn’t have OU’s Reggie Hamilton.
The dynamic guard, playing just an hour south of his hometown of Chicago, set another career high in points this season, scoring 41 points on five 3-points and several acrobatic shots. Points 40 and 41 – a running bank-shot from just inside the 3-point line as time expired – clinched an improbable come-from-behind win for Oakland.
Valparaiso led 37-35 after a closely contested first half. They came out of the locker room shooting hot and opened their largest lead – 60-43 – with 13 and a half left in the second half, before Hamilton took over. The senior scored 10 points in leading his squad to within one, 61-60, with just under nine minutes left in the game.
From there on, neither team was able to build a lead larger than three or four – much like last season’s tightly contested matchup between the former Mid-Continent rivals, won by Valparaiso in Rochester. With just under five seconds to play, Laval Lucas-Perry was able to force a traveling call on Valpo’s Matt Kenny, setting up Hamilton’s coast-to-coast game-winner.
Hamilton also contributed four rebounds, three assists, and four steals as Oakland won their second in a row since losing two close games to Ohio and Michigan.
Despite having only four players with more than one point, Greg Kampe’s squad was able to conjure up enough supporting offense to help propel OU to the victory. Drew Valentine scored 19, Laval Lucas-Perry had 12, and Travis Bader tallied 8 points.
Bader struggled from the field again, shooting 2-of-9 for the night, but he scored on back-to-back possessions to give Oakland a 73-72 lead — its first lead since the first half.
Oakland’s promising freshman Corey Petros had his first lackluster game as a Grizzly, corralling just five rebounds, no points, and five fouls in just 23 minutes.
The Golden Grizzlies will look to extend their winning streak to three against the Arizona Wildcats on Tuesday at 8 p.m. That game will be televised on FS Detroit Plus.
Ref: OUGrizzlies.com, Post-Tribune (picture)
