Oakland Basketball: Golden Grizzlies defeat Vermont in Gulf Coast Showcase

Oakland Basketball defeats Vermont in the first round of the Gulf Coast Showcase to advance to play Rice in the semifinals of the tournament.

Oakland Basketball Head coach Greg Kampe has accomplished two of his three non-conference goals of defeating Toledo and now Vermont with the third being a game later in non-conference play against Bowling Green.

Oakland has already played plenty of tough competition in road games against West Virginia, Alabama, and Oklahoma State in which they upset the Cowboys in their second game of the season. The Golden Grizzlies victory over the Catamounts in their opening-round game of the Gulf Coast Showcase was not easy task but Oakland found a way to come up with a 63-61 victory.

The Golden Grizzlies played a great first half in which they outscored Vermont 36-26 through a strong defensive team effort. Jamal Cain had 12 points and 10 rebounds at the half and Jalen Moore had 11 points and two assists entering the second half.

As a team in the first half, the Golden Grizzlies only committed two fouls, three turnovers, and limited Vermont to only 23.5% shooting from beyond the arc. Oakland also in the first half outrebounded the Catamounts 19-16 and limited them to 11 for 30 shooting from the field. The second half for Oakland was a different story.

The Golden Grizzlies started off playing well at the beginning of the second half but the Vermont offense came to life and started to make some three-pointers, get to the foul line, and create some turnovers. The Catamounts outscored Oakland in the second half by a 35-27 margin behind the scoring of senior forward Ryan Davis who had 24 points in the game. However, Moore hit a game-winning three-pointer to give the Golden Grizzlies a two-point victory.

Cain for Oakland, ended the game with 22 points, 16 rebounds, and two steals while Moore had 21 points and four assists. Trey Townsend for the Golden Grizzlies also played well with 12 points, 10 rebounds, and two assists. Oakland faces 4-1 Rice in the semifinals as the Owls in three overtimes defeated Evansville to advance to play the Golden Grizzlies.

Oakland will have to find a way to contain 6’11” Max Fielder who had 30 points and 12 rebounds in their win over Evansville. The Golden Grizzlies also have to stop Owls guard Chris Mullins who had 25 points against the Purple Aces as well as Travis Evee who had 19 points in their victory over Evansville.

However, Oakland should be up to the task to take on the high power offense of Rice as the Golden Grizzlies with their 1-3-1 pride themselves on limiting their opponents 61 or fewer points as they have done for four out of their five games this season. Oakland if they can defeat Rice, will make it to the finals of the Gulf Coast Showcase.