Takeaways from Oakland’s key Horizon League victory over Wright State

Oakland had a strong offensive second half of play led by Moore to give the Golden Grizzlies the victory over Wright State.

Brandon Noel, Alex Huibregtse, and Aj Braun led Wright offensively in a low-scoring first half.

Noel had seven points on three-for-five shooting as well as seven rebounds. Huibregtse had seven points as well on two for three-shooting with a rebound and a steal. Braun had six points on two-for-five shooting with three rebounds and a steal. The three combined for 20 of Wright State’s 32 first-half points and helped the Raiders to a 32 to 30 halftime lead. The Raiders also shot 39.4% from the field and only made one out of nine shots from beyond the arc and had six assists going into the half.

Jalen Moore, Keaton Hervey, Trey Townsend, and Rocket Watts provided the offense in the first half for the Golden Grizzlies.

Moore led Oakland in scoring with 13 points on four-for-nine shooting to go along with an assist and a steal. He also started the game by scoring the Golden Grizzlies’ first six points of the game. Hervey went three for eight from the field for seven first-half points as well as having five rebounds. Watts and Townsend also contributed offensively with four points each going into halftime. As a team, the Golden Grizzlies shot only 31.3% from the field and 27.3% from three-point range. Oakland did do well with their free throw attempts making seven out of their eight attempts and rebounded fairly well with 21 and three being on the offensive end heading into halftime.

Huibregtse and Noel had a great second half offensively for the Raiders

They each scored six points before the 12-minute mark to have 13 total points each for the game. Huibregtse made an impressive three from beyond the arc only four attempts to help the Raiders with a 47-45 lead over the Golden Grizzlies with just under 12 minutes remaining in the game. At around the 11-minute mark in the second half, Huibregstse made a layup to give the Raiders a two-point lead. Noel made a layup to give him 17 points with just under nine minutes remaining to give the Raiders a 53-47 lead. He then made a three with approximately three minutes remaining in the game to tie the score at 62.

Jalen Moore had another outstanding game

Moore has played well in his two previous games scoring 23 and 37 points as well as having eight steals combined during the stretch of games. After scoring 13 first-half points, Moore scored nine points with just over ten minutes remaining in the second half. After Townsend made back-to-back field goals to trim Wright State’s lead to only one, Moore was fouled and made a free throw and then was fouled again with the score tied at 59 a piece. He made one of the two free throw attempts to give Oakland a one-point lead.

He made a three-pointer with just over two minutes remaining to give the Golden Grizzlies a 67-64 lead. He made two free throws with 40 seconds remaining in the game to give Oakland a 72-65 lead. Moore was the games leading scorer with 35 points He also made 14 of his 18 free throw attempts.

Players of the Game

For Oakland, Hervey had 15 points, nine rebounds, and an assist, Townsend had 14 points, eight rebounds, and an assist, and Moore had 35 points, nine rebounds, and six assists.

For Wright State,  Noel finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds and Huibregtse ended the game with 15 points, four rebounds, and three assists.

What’s next for Oakland and Wright State

Oakland with the win goes to 11-8 in the Horizon League standings to be currently in fifth place. The Golden Grizzlies next play Northern Kentucky on Saturday. Wright State with the loss goes to 9-10 and they go on the road again to play Detroit Mercy on Saturday.