By Skip Coopersmith
GAME NOTES
https://goldengrizzlies.com/documents/2023/12/19/12_20_Game_Notes_vs_Dayton.pdf
ROCHESTER, Mich. – The Golden Grizzlies men’s basketball team continues play on the road as it’ll face off against Dayton in the team’s final non-conference game of the regular season inside UD Arena, with tip-off set for 7:00 p.m. ET.
The Golden Grizzlies (6-6, 1-1 HL) wrapped up its third Big Ten game of the season in East Lansing as it fell, 79-62, to the Michigan State Spartans.
Michigan State came out of the gates firing and scored the first six points of the game before the Golden Grizzlies answered with five of its own highlighted by a Blake Lampman jumper. The Spartans would pull ahead, 15-7, but the Golden Grizzlies held its own and continued to compete in the final 10 of the opening half.
Defense was strong on both ends as both sides struggled offensively and Oakland found itself down eight. However, some makes from the floor and two from range from Lampman made it a two-point game with 4:32 left to play. The small margin wouldn’t last as nine-straight points from the Spartans and a 3:56 scoring drought for the Golden Grizzlies gave Michigan State its first double-digit point lead of the night.
A strong finish from the baseline from Chris Conway followed by a make from the charity stripe from Trey Townsend cut the Spartans deficit to eight heading into the locker room.
The Spartans opened up the second half with a three, but Conway put one up from the paint to make it a nine-point game. Michigan State eventually grabbed a quick few points and put itself ahead, 46-30, and would keep the lead throughout. The Golden Grizzlies saw its deficit increase to as large as 27 which made an Oakland comeback difficult. Some makes towards the end up the game helped the Golden Grizzlies slightly but eventually fell, 79-62.
The Golden Grizzlies saw three players record double-digit points as Townsend led the game with 17, followed by Rocket Watts with 16. Watts shot great from the floor at a .700 clip, while Conway led the team off the glass with six rebounds. The Spartans also had three players in the double-digits, with Tyson Walker accounting for 14 points on 5-of-12 from the floor. Mady Sissoko and Carson Cooper both led the Spartans with a game-high eight rebounds.
The Golden Grizzlies shot 23-of-63 (.365) from the floor while the Spartans nearly eclipsed the 50.0% mark off 29-of-59 (.492) from the field. The Golden Grizzlies dominated the offensive glass and brought down 16 boards on its end.
SCOUTING THE FLYERS
The Golden Grizzlies and the Flyers square off for the first time in program history. The Flyers, who compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference, have a history of success as it made the NCAA Tournament on 18 separate occasions, with its most recent in 2017. The three-time conference regular season champs most notable season came in 1967 when the Flyers advanced all the way to the championship game before it fell to UCLA. To date, the Flyers have advanced to the Sweet 16 seven times along with the Elite Eight three times.
Dayton (8-2, 0-0 A10) recently beat in-state foe Cincinnati, 82-68, to grab its eighth win of the season. The Flyers two losses of the season came from Northwestern (71-66) and to nationally-ranked Houston (69-55) but have rattled off five-straight since then. Dayton has won all four home games of the season and only lost one true road game, with its loss against Houston at the Charleston Classic.
The Flyers used its momentum it took into the locker room and built off its lead to take its most recent game against Cincinnati. Dayton went up, 35-29, after 20 but Cincinnati pulled within four in the opening minutes of the second half. The Flyers kept up, however, and went up as much as 18 as it only missed from the field 10 times in the closing half. Free throws put the game to rest as the Flyers moved to 8-2.
DaRon Holmes II and Kobe Elvis dominated for the Flyers as they both recorded 25+ points, with Holmes II with 28 and Elvis with 27. Holmes II was also second on the team in rebounds with seven, while Nate Santos led Dayton with eight boards. Holmes II also leads the team in scoring on the season with an average of 17.5 as four Flyers average double-digit points. Off the glass, Santos leads the way with 70 rebounds, good for 7.0 per game.
The Flyers outscore its opposition by 7.3 points, on average, with its 72.4 points per game. Dayton fares well on the floor and shoot at a .474 clip with 9.1 threes made per game. The Flyers narrowly get beat off the glass with a -0.1 margin, but make up for it with 14.6 assists per game, 2.6 better than its opposition.
Tip-off from the UD Arena is slated for 7:00 PM ET Wednesday, Dec. 20.
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