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Well, that one’s going to leave a mark. Oakland let a 13-point lead slip away in the second half and then went ice cold in overtime as top-seeded Robert Morris escaped with a thrilling 79-76 win in the Horizon League semifinals Monday night at Corteva Coliseum in Indianapolis. Related Articles College Sports | Jase Richardson has stepped out of his father’s shadow for Michigan State College Sports | Shots starting to fall as Michigan State hits tournament time College Sports | ‘I wasn’t aware’: Dusty May defends Michigan’s actions during MSU scrap College Sports | Michigan State starts strong, rolls past rival Michigan in regular-season finale College Sports | Kiki Iriafen’s double-double sends No.
2 Southern Cal past Michigan 82-70, into Big Ten title game Oakland was 0-for-6 on 3-pointers in the overtime, including a good look from big man Buru Naivalurua at the buzzer in overtime. He’s not one of the preferred options from 3, but he was the open made and put up a good shot. But like the other six Oakland attempts in OT, it clanked off the rim, and just like that, the Golden Grizzlies’ season ended.
Robert Morris (25-8), the Horizon League’s regular-season champion, improved to 3-0 against Oakland this season, and in all three games, Oakland had the lead at halftime, including 38-34 on Monday. “You know, what can I say? We played great, we played hard, they’re a good team,” Oakland head coach Greg Kampe said afterward on the postgame radio broadcast. “We had a chance to win the game.
“I give them credit. I give them credit.” Oakland (16-18) saw its Horizon League tournament winning streak end at five, and the Golden Grizzlies were denied a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Robert Morris’ Kam Woods (who was on the N.C. State that ended Oakland’s season in overtime last season, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament), was the hero of the game in regulation, making a 3 to answer a 3 by Oakland’s Jayson Woodrich with 1 minute, 29 seconds left.
Then, Woods went to the rim and made a basket while drawing a foul with 16.1 seconds left; he made the free throw to tie the game at 74, and that also was the fifth foul on Oakland’s best player, big man Allen Mukeba, who dominated the first half but wouldn’t get to play in OT. Oakland had a chance to win it in regulation, and it appeared Kampe was going to left his guys play it out.
Sophomore point guard Jaylen Jones had the ball and dribbled toward the lane, where he appeared to have some space. But with just 4 seconds left, not liking what was developing, Kampe called timeout. Oakland’s lobbed inbounds pass toward the paint was then picked off, and the game headed to overtime.
Oakland didn’t get a shot off in its final possession of regulation. “I’m not sure I like what I did at the end of regulation,” Kampe said. “I’m gonna have to live with that.
” Then, overtime, which began with both teams’ best players on the bench with five fouls (Mukeba and Robert Morris big man Alvaro Folgueiras, the Horizon League player of the year), was all Robert Morris. Robert Morris’ DJ Smith made a 3 to start overtime, and then Oakland missed one shot after another, including two of four free-throw attempts. Oakland didn’t make a field goal in overtime.
It was 0-for-7. Woods made a jumper with 3:38 left in overtime to put Robert Morris up, 79-75, and Robert Morris didn’t score again. Its defense did the rest, including harassing Oakland on its final possession.
With 26 seconds left, the Golden Grizzlies had the ball with a chance to tie, but with little happening, senior Malcolm Christie had to put up a 3 with 3 seconds left, and that was blocked by Robert Morris’ Ryan Prather. With less than 2 seconds left, the only open option was Naivalurua, a senior who had attempted just five 3’s all season (making two) coming into the game. It was off the mark as Robert Morris kicked off its celebration.
Oakland had its issues with 3-point shooting during the season, but it was 8-for-17 in regulation, including back-to-back makes from seniors Jayson Woodrich and DQ Cole late in the second half to get Oakland back on track after it allowed its 13-point lead to slip away ― done in by a scoreless drought of more than 5 minutes. During that stretch, Robert Morris went on an 11-0 run, turning a 64-57 deficit into a 68-64 lead. During that stretch, Robert Morris’ work on Mukeba, a senior, paid dividends.
Mukeba had 13 points in the first half, just five in the second. And, so, Robert Morris will make its first trip to the Horizon League championship game, set for Tuesday night against either Youngstown State or Cleveland State, who were playing the second semifinal Monday. “I hate to see it end right now,” Kampe said.
“I feel that we had our chances and didn’t get it done. “I just feel really bad about it. I feel really bad.
“I really don’t have a lot to say.” Oakland had won its last three overtime games, all in the last month, but saw its free-throws pop up when it mattered Monday. The Golden Grizzlies missed nine of them, going 18-for-27.
Mukeba led Oakland with the 18 points in just 33 minutes, and was swarmed most of the night with double- and even triple-teams, the coverage usually headlined by junior big Amarion Dickerson, the Horizon League defensive player of the year. Naivalurua, meanwhile, finished with 13 points and two blocks, including a big one late in overtime to give the Golden Grizzlies a chance to extend their season. Christie had 12 points, including two huge 3’s in the second half, while Cole scored 11.
Junior Isaiah Jones had seven points, seven rebounds and four steals. For Robert Morris, Woods, a senior, scored 23 to go with seven assists, and Folgueiras, a sophomore from Spain, finished with 12 points and three blocks. Smith, a junior, scored 11, and Josh Omojafo, a junior, scored 10.
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