Oakland Basketball: Golden Grizzlies beat Detroit Mercy in overtime thriller
By Ryan Kay
The “Metro Series” got underway this weekend, with Horizon League foes Detroit Mercy and Oakland Basketball facing off.
This series between these two fierce rivals was originally scheduled for the weekend of January 22nd, but Detroit Mercy’s and Oakland Basketball’s scheduled opponents for this weekend were unable to compete this weekend and both schools decided to play one another for a pair of games. The Golden Grizzlies entered today’s game 0-9, with the Titans being 1-5 prior to the start of the game.
Both teams are lead by Horizon League Player of the league candidates. Oakland’s Rashad Williams is the three-point and free throw specialist for Oakland and Detroit Mercy’s Anonine Davis is the all-around guard who can do a little of everything for the Titans. Both players have had their ups and downs this season, but both knew the importance of performing well in this game. However, in this game, their teammates would step up in big ways.
Davis made the first basket of the game within the first minute and half of the game on a long three-pointer from the wing giving the Titans an early 3-0 lead. Oakland got their first made field goal of the game on an in the paint basket by Trey Townsend at the 18:00 mark. Detroit Mercy’s Matt Johnson made a shot from beyond the arc to make it a 6-2 Titans lead.
Davis made two free throws with just over 16 minutes left in the first half to give the Titans an 8-2 commanding lead early. Oakland’s Daniel Oladapo made a layup with 14:30 left to make it an 8-4 game. However, the Titans Noah Watermann made a nice mid-range baseline jumper and Davis made another long-range three to make it a 13-4 game.
After a Detroit Mercy basket, Oladpo made a hard-fought contested layup to make the score 15-6 in favor of the Titans with just under 12 minutes remaining in the first half. Dwayne Rose Jr. would make one out of his two free-throw attempts to give Detroit Mercy a double-digit lead.
Townsend for Oakland would do the same as Rose and make one of his two free-throw attempts. Waterman would make a three with just under 10 minutes remaining in the first half and then Willams from Oakland made his first basket of the game to make it 19-9 with just under nine minutes left in the half.
The Golden Grizzlies Jalen Moore made two free throws to make the score 19-11. Micah Parrish made a lay-up in transition and Williams made a three from the wing to make it 19-16. The Titans Davis responded with a layup to make it 21-16 with just under seven minutes left in the first half. Townsend would make one free throw, make a baseline jumper, and then make a driving to the basket floater to tie the game.
Detroit Mercy’s Bul Kuol made a three on the next possession to make it a three-point game with just over five minutes remaining. Kuol would make two free throws to make it a five-point game. He would follow that up with a commanding and powerful dunk to make the score 28-21.
Oakland’s Yusif Jihad would make a putback basket and then Kuol for the Titans again made a three to make it a 31-23 game. The Golden Grizzlies Moore made two three throws to make it a six-point game. Jihad put down a two-hand dunk to make it a four-point game.
Detroit Mercy’s Willy Isiani made both of his free throws to make the score 33-27. Then his teammate Marquell Fraser would make a layup and on the next possession, Oakland’s Jihad would make another basket to make the score 35-29 going into halftime.