Oakland Basketball winning their 3rd straight game signified a change in direction for the Golden Grizzlies as they had previously lost six of seven contests prior to their three-game winning streak. Three sophomores helped lead the way as Oakland beat Milwaukee on Friday night.
Rashad Williams, Tray Maddox Jr., and Daniel Oladapo all sophomores for Oakland Basketball are the present and future for the Golden Grizzlies. Williams this season has scored 28 points or more in three games this season. Maddox known for his great defense has put up 15 or more points in five games this season. Oladapo, known for his rebounding has scored up 21 or more points twice this season. The three of them as sophomores who make a great trio, like a set of triplets, these sophomores are helping Oakland make a late run to increase the possibility of getting a higher seed in the Horizon tournament.
It is no secret that Williams has been the catalyst to Oakland’s recent success but he has not done it on his own. Maddox, for example, had 12 points, seven assists, six rebounds, and one steal in Oakland’s win over Youngstown State. Oladapo by his own accounts, has exceeded early expectations. He also played well in the Golden Grizzlies win over the Penguins with 10 rebounds and sold defense against Youngstown’s bigs. All three played well in helping Oakland defeat Milwaukee.
In their previous meeting at Milwaukee, the Panthers only defeated the Golden Grizzlies by a score of 73-68. Entering tonight’s game, Milwaukee sat at 6th place in the Horizon and Oakland in 8th place. For Oakland, winning this game was a must in order to have a realistic chance of hosting a game in the upcoming Horizon league tournament.
In the 1st half, senior Xavier Hill-Mais lead Oakland with 12 points on 4/5 shooting from the floor. Oakland started the 2nd half down one trailing Milwaukee by a score of 35-34. In the 2nd half, Milwaukee lead by four points with just over 14 minutes left in the game. With just over 12 minutes left in the 2nd half, Williams made a three pointer to cut the lead to one to make the score 51-50 Milwaukee.
After consecutive defensive stops, Oakland pushed the tempo to reclaim their first lead of the 2nd half. Maddox made a up and under move in the point to put the Golden Grizzlies up 52-51. The Panthers would answer with a three from the corner to put them up by two with just over nine minutes left in the game. Milwaukee would extend the lead to 6 with just under nine minutes left in the 2nd half on and and one.
Oladapo got an offensive rebound and made a layup to trim the Panther lead to three. Then after a defensive stop, Oladapo drove to the paint scored and got fouled. With over six minutes left, Brad Brechting made one of two free throws to make it 59-58 Milwaukee. Under five minutes left in the game, Hill-Mais made a basket after a nice post move, Brechting made two free throws, and Oladapo made another up and over move for a bucket to give Oakland a five point lead.
Oakland went with a bigger lineup for approximately a four minute stretch and it paid dividends for coach Greg Kampe as it limited Milwaukee’s 2nd chance opportunities on offense. Hill-Mais continued his great play with an and one play to put Oakland up 67-59 with under three minutes to go in the game. With Oakland in the double bonus, Maddox got fouled and made both free throws to give Oakland a 10 point lead with just over two minutes left in the 2nd half. Then he would attack the basket and make the layup and appeared to get fouled but after a review, an offensive foul was called on Maddox instead.
Milwaukee would cut the Golden Grizzlies lead to 4 points before putting Brechting on the line to shoot two free throws with just over a minute remaining in the game. He would make both free throws to give Oakland a 6 point lead with under a minute left. Maddox would make two free throws to make it a nine point game. Oakland ended up winning the game by a final score of 75-68.
All three players, Williams, Maddox, and Oladapo scored in double digits to finish the game. Williams would end the game with 16 points and 2 steals, Maddox ended the night with 11 points and four assists, and Oladapo finished the game with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Darius Roy was Milwaukee’s leading scorer as he finished the game with 18 points. Hill-Mais led all scorers with 23 points.
Oakland with the win improved to 11-17 overall and 6-9 in conference play. Milwaukee with the lose drops to 12-15 overall and 7-8 in conference play. The Golden Grizzlies next host Green Bay for senior night this Sunday and the Panthers play at Detroit on Sunday.