To advance to the Horizon League semifinals, top-seeded Oakland merely needed to beat a team it had clobbered in two previous meetings by 29 and 24 points.
Unfathomably, the Golden Grizzlies couldn’t do it.
Ninth-seeded Youngstown State scored an 81-80 upset after Oakland committed a crucial defensive blunder on the final play of the game.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="When Youngstown State’s leading scorer Cameron Morse received an inbound pass trailing by one with 3.3 seconds to go, every Oakland defender on the floor inexplicably ran at him. Morse had the unselfishness and presence of mind to feed 7-foot-1 center Jorden Kaufman, whose buzzer-beating layup sent the Golden Grizzlies (24-8) home early and the Penguins into the Horizon League semifinals.” data-reactid=”17″>When Youngstown State’s leading scorer Cameron Morse received an inbound pass trailing by one with 3.3 seconds to go, every Oakland defender on the floor inexplicably ran at him. Morse had the unselfishness and presence of mind to feed 7-foot-1 center Jorden Kaufman, whose buzzer-beating layup sent the Golden Grizzlies (24-8) home early and the Penguins into the Horizon League semifinals.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="It’s understandable that Oakland was concerned about Morse considering he averages 22.4 points per game and he’d already lit up the Golden Grizzlies for 34 on Saturday evening. Nonetheless, 3.3 seconds is a long time, plenty enough for Morse to find a teammate wide open underneath the rim.” data-reactid=”20″>It’s understandable that Oakland was concerned about Morse considering he averages 22.4 points per game and he’d already lit up the Golden Grizzlies for 34 on Saturday evening. Nonetheless, 3.3 seconds is a long time, plenty enough for Morse to find a teammate wide open underneath the rim.
Credit Morse for making the right play and Kaufman for finishing it. Now Youngstown State is two wins from a potential NCAA tournament berth despite losing 20 regular season games, going 5-13 in Horizon League play and only finishing ahead of one team in the conference standings.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Oakland appeared to have a golden opportunity to reach its first NCAA tournament since 2011 when co-Horizon League champion Valparaiso lost star forward Alec Peters for the rest of the season to a leg injury. The Crusaders and Golden Grizzlies had been the league’s two best teams all season, and Oakland had swept the season series with Valparaiso even with Peters in the lineup for both games.” data-reactid=”22″>Oakland appeared to have a golden opportunity to reach its first NCAA tournament since 2011 when co-Horizon League champion Valparaiso lost star forward Alec Peters for the rest of the season to a leg injury. The Crusaders and Golden Grizzlies had been the league’s two best teams all season, and Oakland had swept the season series with Valparaiso even with Peters in the lineup for both games.
Alas, Oakland won’t get the chance to beat Valparaiso a third time, not after a mistake-prone quarterfinal performance against Youngstown State. The Golden Grizzlies might have led by more entering the game’s final possession had they not thrown the ball away seconds earlier while inbounding with a one-point lead.
Once that happened, one stop was still all Oakland needed to survive and advance. Instead the Golden Grizzlies have all offseason to bemoan an ill-timed blunder.
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<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!” data-reactid=”26″>Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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