Game Recap: Oakland heats up late to win big over Binghamton by a score of 83 to 72

Following their romping loss at the hands of Michigan State over the weekend, Binghamton continued their trip around the state of Michigan with a Monday night match up against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies.  Success for the Bearcats has been few and far between so far this season between as heading into this game were 2-5 on the season with the only two wins coming against Central Connecticut State and Colgate.

On the reverse side is Oakland who heading into this game were coming off of a 92-74 win over Robert Morris where Max Hooper had career highs in points and three-pointers and a near upset over Georgia.  Overall they were 4-3 on the year heading into Monday night's game and have been aided greatly by the play of Kay Felder.

It was a close affair from the onset, as the first half ended in a 45 all tie, with the stat lines being fairly similar for both sides.  Oakland in the first half benefited early on from the hot hand of Max Hooper who ended the first half with 12 points, with all of his points coming off the three ball.  As a team the Golden Grizzlies were also able to generate their offense with 18 points in the paint and 14 points off the bench.  The Bearcats matched Oakland's stats in the first with 17 points off the bench, 8 points in the paint, and also saw serious production off the turnover with 10 points. Binghamton's leading scorer in the first was Everson Davis with 9 points, he would eventually finish as the Bearcats' leading scorer for the game as well with 18 on the night.

The second half though was a different game as Oakland was able to reach back and pull ahead thanks in part to the play of Kay Felder who erupted for 19 points over the span of the twenty minutes in the second half, thanks in part to his 5-of-6 from the foul line, the most by an Oakland player in the second.  The Golden Grizzlies were also golden in the pain with 22 points coming from the inside.  They were also able to force the hand of Binghamton as well with 14 forced turnovers coming in this half.  It also did not help Binghamton that three players found themselves in serious foul trouble, most notably WIllie Rodriguez and Everson Davis.  The Bearcats simply withered away midway through the second as they could not keep up with the pace of the Golden Grizzlies and in the end would fall short by a score of 83 to 72.

Overall it was a great game by both sides with twelve lead changes and three times tied over the span of forty minutes.  While Binghamton fell short in the end it was a much better effort then in games prior.  As for Oakland it was a case of building on what they've done in the previous few games as a team that show potential going forward.