SWAT team

Duquense's 15 blocks move OU to 2-2

By Samantha Franz
Sports Editor

ROCHESTER--Whoever said you need to score double-digit points to have a good game clearly has never seen Duquense University junior Shawn James play basketball.

True, he only scored one point, a lone free throw, in the Dukes 92-77 routing of Oakland University. But the six-foot-ten post player also tallied six rebounds and a school record 12 blocks. Yes, 12 individual blocks, notching a new school record. No wonder he was chosen to be picked 17th overall in foxsports.com's 2008 NBA mock draft.

“We’ve played some top five teams in here, including Michigan State when they went to the Final Four, and that [Duquense] was one of the best teams we’ve ever faced,” said head coach Greg Kampe. "You saw a hell of a team."

From the opening tip to the final buzzer, the game was a dog fight. Players hit the floor, crashed the boards and sent the ball sailing, thanks to a grand total of 24 blocks between the teams.

OU never led throughout the contest, though they experienced several scoring runs, resulting in four Golden Grizzlies in double figures, including a career night for junior Shane Lawal, with 10 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks.



Junior Shane Lawal/www.ougrizzlies.com

"If you would have told me when he first got here that, against a good basketball team, he would have 16 rebounds, 10 points and five blocks, I would have said, 'there is no way that would ever happen,'" Kampe said. "I felt I couldn't take him off the floor; he was a real bright spot out there for us."

Senior Brandon Cassise did his best to compensate for the absence of the injured Erik Kangas, shooting 5-17 from the three-point line and tallying a game-high 22 points. But with only one sharp-shooter on the perimeter, Oakland tried to take the game inside to help out. As a result, they walked right into Duquense's block party, where many of their shots were either swatted away or pulled down in one of the Dukes' 37 defensive rebounds.

"We didn't pull up and shoot jump shots and Derick Nelson wanted to prove he could score on James," Kampe said of Nelson's driving to the basket. "James is probably going to send him a thank-you note for a world-record in blocked shots," he joked.

The Golden Grizzlies came within 10 points, 50-40, at 18:51 mark in the second half off a free throw by junior Derick Nelson But the run was short-lived and the Dukes countered with a 7-0 run, squashing OU's momentum.

Kampe referred to Duquense's ablility to hit the three-pointer on the road the as "key to the game," and that is certainly not a lie. Whenever OU hit a stride and sank a clutch shot, the Dukes would have an answer from three-point land, as they sank 11 of their 33 attempts, compared to OU's 7-26.

Other strong finishers for the Golden Grizzlies were Nelson with 20 points and eight rebounds and sophomore point guard Jonathon Jones with 12 points and three assists.

The victory shoots the Dukes up to 4-0 for the first time in 21 years, while the loss for OU puts them at 2-2 to start the season. The road isn't going to get any easier either, as the Golden Grizzlies enter Sparty Country this Saturday to take on the 10th ranked Michigan State University at 4 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network, 1310 AM and 88.3 FM, WXOU.


Who wants to redeem themselves more?--Both Oakland University and Michigan State are coming into Saturday's matchup off of losses. The Spartans were handed a 68-63 decision by the 2nd ranked UCLA Bruins (5-0) Tuesday.

Back to basic black (and gold)?--After defeating Eastern Michigan in their new uniforms, the Golden Grizzlies wore them again in their loss to Duquense. Will they take them for a third outing against the Spartans and break the 1-1 record in them or will they go back to the more traditional unis?