Kay Felder (20) pushes through Youngstown State defenders during Monday’s game at the O’rena. Bryan Everson/Press Row Sports
[dropcap]I[/dropcap]t wasn’t without controversy in the final seconds, but Youngstown State did plenty before those moments to validate a victory Monday night.
The Penguins made 50 percent from 3-point range to help knock off Oakland, 100-98, the game-winning basket confirmed with 1.2 seconds left following a lengthy review by officials.
With the game tied 95-all, freshman Latin Davis knocked down a 3-pointer from the wing over Kay Felder with 55 seconds left, but the junior point guard answered by pulling the trigger and hitting on a triple of his own to knot it back up at 98 with 32 seconds remaining.
On the final possession, Youngstown State sophomore guard Cameron Morse drove the paint to the left and missed, but a follow-up tip-in by Jorden Kaufman with 1.3 seconds to go was counted after officials spent several minutes at the video monitor. Felder got the ensuing in-bounds but was unable to launch a desperation heave as time ran out.
“It didn’t make sense to me,” Oakland coach Greg Kampe said. “[The official] said that the kid got the shot up before the shot clock went off, and then the whistle blew it dead, but because the shot had gotten up, they got the tip-in. That didn’t make sense; if they blew it dead, it’s gotta be dead.”
“It sure looked like goaltending to me.”
Oakland (9-6, 1-1) looked sluggish from the opening tip and allowed Youngstown State (6-9, 1-1) to fire away too many open looks, as they connected on 11 3-pointers before halftime.
“We showed no respect to them,” Felder said. “We gave them wide-open shots and we thought our offense would overpower them. Things go bad and now you’re trying to turn the switch up…we just didn’t have that focus tonight.”
Despite six turnovers, Felder scored 23 points and tied a career-high with 14 assists. His output was matched with some firepower off the bench by sophomore guard Nick Daniels, who finished with a career-high 21 points. His six 3-pointers included back-to-back triples that gave the Golden Grizzlies their first lead of the game with 14 minutes left in the second half.
Youngstown State got excellent shooting performances out of multiple players to pull off the win. With 6-foot-10 senior forward Bobby Hain missing (foot) — a preseason Second-Team All- Horizon League selection — Oakland had to follow suit and try contain the Penguins’ perimeter game with a smaller lineup, led by Morse, who scored a team-high 23 points, and junior forward Matt Donlan (19 points). That pair combined to drain nine 3-pointers, and joining in the barrage was Jordan Andrews, who made four 3’s en route to 18 points.
Kaufman led the way off the bench for YSU with 18 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, including six on the offensive glass.
For Oakland, sophomore forward Jalen Hayes contributed 16 points and 12 rebounds, and was joined in double-figures by Sherron Dorsey-Walker (12 points) and Martez Walker (13 points).
The Golden Grizzlies will have to rebound in a hurry if they aspire to still win a regular season conference title. The four-game homestand continues Friday night as preseason favorite Valparaiso comes to town.
Regardless of what transpires in that game — a matchup that has traditionally produced high-octane offense and explosive finishes — Kampe was conscious of what the loss to a team picked to finish ninth in the conference could mean.
“This is a very, very difficult loss for us as far as what our aspirations are for this team,” he said. “To lose at home in the league is something that teams that win championships don’t do.”
“If you want to have the type of program that we’ve spent 15, 16 years at Division I building, trying to build something special, you don’t want it to come down to 3 days in March.”
