By Samantha Franz
Sports Editor
"Every rose has its thorn," Poison famously crooned in 80s car radios everywhere. The same phrase could be applied to Oakland University's 86-71 routing of Eastern Michigan University's men's basketball team Saturday.
Sure, the team won by 15 points and yeah, six Golden Grizzlies were in double-figures. Oh, and OU simply owned the Eagles on the boards, out-rebounding EMU 56-33.
Junior Derick Nelson/ougrizzlies.com
But Oakland was also out-scored in the second half after a 43-26 halftime lead and only made 51.5 percent of their free throws. That, and they threw the ball away 21 times, resulting in 25 EMU points.
Ouch.
"That was the worst free throw shooting I've seen in my entire life," head coach Greg Kampe said. "I don't know how we scored 86 points. I told the team I really liked the way we played. I don't like how we played, but I like the way we played. The speed, the energy and they way we defended; I like that very much, But it wasn't crisp and we turned the ball over way too much."
Starting shooting guard Erik Kangas once again took a seat on the bench, recovering from a shoulder injury and senior Brandon Cassise started in his place, finishing the night with 11 points, including three three-pointers, and five steals.
The Grizzlies came out swinging in the first half, scoring 43 points and taking advantage of EMU's sloppy play. The Eagles committed a whopping 15 fouls in the half and turned the ball over 18 times, which OU converted into 20 points.
After basking in a 43-26 halftime lead, the Golden Grizzlies notched another 43 points on the board in the second half. Problem is, EMU put up 45.
Between Nelson's mere five points in the second half (compared to his 17 first half points), OU's 11 turnovers and losing junior Rutgers transfer Dan Waterstradt to injury, OU was presented with a greater challenge in maintaining their lead.
Waterstradt had just entered double-digit territory, scoring his 10th point, when he hit the court hard with 16:20 remaining in the half. He was assisted off the court and was diagnosed with a sprained ankle.
Luckily, OU got some help from their young guns with freshmen Will Hudson (who started at forward) scoring six points, Tim Williams notching 11 points and Keith Benson tallying six rebounds and two blocks.
As Kampe looks ahead to Tuesday's match up against Duquense (3-0 overall this season), a team he claims is the toughest team coming to the O'Rena this season, he expressed concern with his two injured players.
"If this was the NFL, Kangas would be listed as 'doubtful,'" Kampe said. "He will play when we play Southern Utah and UMKC in early December. If he can play before that, he will. But that's my time table for him; he's gotta heal and he's not healed. And Waterstradt is day-to-day [with a mild ankle sprain]. We need those players back."
But just because Kangas is out, doesn't mean his players are wide-eyed and dreaming of more playing time.
"We're not thinking about it like that," sophompre Shane Lawal said, who started the game and contributed six points (including some slam dunks), nine rebounds and one block. "We're looking at it as, 'if we're winning without him now, it says a lot about our team.' This is a very deep team, on the perimeter and in the post."
Also setting the tone for Tuesday's match up were some words of wisdom from Kampe's father.
"My father always said there are two things in the world that don't last," he said. "Dogs that chase cars and teams that don't make their free throws."
The tilt against Duquense will tip-off at 7 p.m. at the O'Rena.
Fashion Foward?--Always a team to push the fashion envelope, the Golden Grizzlies once again hit the court in some new uniforms. The uniform tops were much tighter than a traditional jersey, made of an Under Armor-like material.
"I like how tight they are because people can't grab on to [your jersey], but I don't really like the design," Nelson said.
When asked if tight shorts were to follow, Nelson laughed and gave a firm, "No."
0 comments:
Post a Comment