Oakland Men's Basketball Falls to Michigan State 62-79 in East Lansing

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PxP: Drew Allison

Color: Justin Sheapperd

Studio: Joey Hayes

Sideline/Halftime: Giovanni Moceri

In the 21st meeting of the Golden Grizzlies and the Spartans, Oakland falls 62-79 in the Breslin Center on Monday, December 18th.

The Golden Grizzlies were solid on defense in the first half, down 22-30 at halftime, holding MSU to 37.50% FG and 20% 3PT. With a specific focus on the Spartan's guard, Tyson Walker, Oakland's defense held him to only 2 points in the first 20 minutes.

"We had a game plan to stop Walker. I didn't care what anybody else did. Walker was not going to beat us," Greg Kampe told the media after the game.

However, the offense greatly struggled against the Spartan defense, with many offensive possessions going down to the final seconds of the shot clock.

While the game was still within reach going into halftime, things changed in the opening minutes of the second half. Oakland gave up huge plays early to dig themselves into a deeper hole, including an open 3PT to Walker in the very first play of the 2nd half.

The Golden Grizzlies were still struggling to score against the Spartan defense and were down by about 20 points for much of the later 2nd half, with the final score ending at 62-79.

Some bright spots for the Golden Grizzlies were Rocket Watts scoring 16 points on 7-10 FG and 2-3 3PT in only 24 minutes, Trey Townsend with 17 points, and Blake Lampman with 12.

They move on to take on Dayton on the road for their final non-conference game of the season. Horizon League play begins December 28th, on the road for Cleveland State and then Youngstown State on New Year's Eve.