Oakland Basketball needed a win to climb out of the bottom of the Horizon standing and they got one with a hard-fought win over red-hot and current 3rd place Youngstown State. It wasn’t easy nor pretty but a win is a win and the Golden Grizzlies took another step forward as they prepare for the Horizon tournament.
Youngstown State came into today’s contest on a hot streak winning four of their last six games. In their two losses during that span, they lost both of those games in overtime by only three or fewer points. However, on the road in Horizon League play is rarely an easy task for the road team to obtain a victory. Oakland Basketball’s record may not show it but they have played better of late and much of that better play is attributed to a newly eligible Cleveland State transfer.
Rashad Williams is starting to make a name for himself nationally, it started when his step-back crossover three pointer against Cleveland State made ESPN’s Sportscenter’s top 10 as the #2 play on February 13th. He made his first major splash this season at Oakland when he scored a season-high 37 points in the Golden Grizzlies win over in-state rival Detroit Mercy. He followed that performance up with two outstanding outings when he scored 34 points on the road against Northern Kentucky and produced 28 points in a victory at home against Cleveland State. However, his play this season should not come as a surprise.
As a freshman at Cleveland State, he was named to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team and led the Horizon League in three-point shooting overall. In high school, he was named to the Detroit Free Press All-West first team. In other words, his rise to stardom in Horizon league play should not come as a big surprise.
In today’s game against Youngstown State, he missed his first shot of the game which was a missed three-point attempt but then he started to get going offensively. He made a nice assist to teammate Daniel Oladapo breaking the Penguins full court press in the early minutes of the game. Youngstown State started the game making three quick three pointers to take a 11-5 lead early in the first half but the Golden Grizzlies would respond. Williams made a long-range three pointer from way beyond the arc to make it only a one point game.
With just over 13 minutes remaining in the 1st half, Williams timely made three gave Oakland the lead for the Golden Grizzlies, 16-13. Williams had some help in this game behind the superior defense of Tray Maddox Jr. and his 10 early 1st half points. In a tight game where defense was dominant on both ends of the court, the score was 22-20 Oakland with just under four minutes remaining in the 1st half. Williams made a running jumper as he drove the baseline to give the Golden Grizzlies a two point lead with three minutes remaining in the half. Oakland went into halftime with a 31-24 lead.
Entering the 2nd half, Maddox had not missed a field goal attempt and Oakland shot 5 for 12 from beyond the arch and 12 for 27 from the field. The Golden Grizzlies had nine assists, three steals, and two blocks as well going into the 2nd half. Williams scored the first points of the second half for Oakland on a made three from the corner. Then on a pass from Maddox, Williams head faked to get the Penguin defender off of his feet, to make another three from beyond the arc to give the Golden Grizzlies a 39-31 lead early in the 2nd half.
Brad Brechting two hand dunk gave Oakland their 1st double-digit lead of the game making the score 41-31 with just under 15 minutes left in the game. Golden Grizzlies Xavier Hill-Mais made a baseline one-handed shot as he was falling to the floor to make it a 45-34 game with just 12 minutes left in the 2nd half.
Kevin Kangu made a three from beyond the arch to give Oakland a 49-34 point lead with under 10 minutes remaining in the game. Kangu then made another three pointer on the following position to give the Golden Grizzlies their biggest lead of the game of 18 points over the visiting Penguins. Youngstown State was shooting from the field 16 for 50 with seven minutes remaining in the game. Oakland’s defense forced the Penguins to take difficult shots for the majority of the game.
Hill-Mais along with Kangu had an outstanding 2nd half of play. Hill-Mais made a tough contested shot in the paint to give the Golden Grizzlies a 57-41 lead with six minutes remaining in the half. Youngstown State would make some late three pointers to cut the lead to nine with under a minute left. Brechting would make two late free throws to give Oakland a 11 point lead with under 40 seconds left in the game. Oakland would end up winning the game by a final score of 72-64.
Four Oakland players ended up with scoring double digits in the victory over Youngstown State. Hill-Mais was Oakland’s leading scorer with 20 and most of those points coming in the 2nd half, Williams had 16, Kangu scored 14, and Maddox contributed with 12 points. Youngstown State’s Devin Morgan was the Penguins leading scorer with 20.
With the victory, the Golden Grizzlies improve to 10-17 overall and 5-9 in league play. Oakland next plays at home against Milwaukee at home on Feb. 21st . The Penguins drop to 15-12 on the season overall with the loss and 8-6 in Horizon play. Youngstown State next hosts Wright State on Feb. 20th.