Oakland-Oregon: Golden Grizzlies Nip Ducks 82-79 in Overtime

Oakland's Johnathon Jones scored a career-high 32, including 10 in overtime, to lead Oakland of Michigan to an 82-79 victory over Oregon on Monday, Nov. 17. The Ducks dropped to 1-1 overall with the loss played at McArthur Court in Eugene. The Grizzlies evened their season mark to 1-1.

Erik Kangas had 18 points for the Golden Grizzlies (1-1), who ended the Ducks' (1-1) 16-game non-conference winning streak at McArthur Court. Jones made 13-of-23 shots, including a baseline fadeaway jumper with eight seconds left in OT to put the Grizzlies up 82-77.

Sophomore forward LeKendric Longmire scored a career-high 18 points, all in the first half for the Ducks, who couldn't get coach Ernie Kent the school record of 213 wins. Junior guard Tajuan Porter, who sent the game into overtime with three free throws in the final seconds of the game, finished with 17 points in a team-high 43 minutes of action.

Freshman center Michael Dunigan had 15 points and 10 rebounds, while junior forward Joevan Catron added 13 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists. It was Dunigan's first double-double of his collegiate career. Catron tallied his fourth career double-double, first of the 2008-09 campaign. Freshman guard Garrett Sim came off the bench to score nine points in 18 minutes of action.

The Ducks hit just 38.5 percent of their field goal attempts, making 25-of-65 from the field. UO was 11-of-29 on three-pointers (.379) and 18-of-26 from the free throw line (.692).

Oakland made 31-of-72 field goal attempts for 43.1 percent. The Grizzlies hit only 4-20 three-point attempts (.200) and 16-of-25 free throws (.640).

Oregon outrebounded Oakland, 45-39, while also holding an advantage in the assist category at 16-11. The Ducks were forced into 18 turnovers, while OU turned the ball over 12 times in the contest.

The most visible eyesore after two games this season has been the number of turnovers that Oregon has committed. This is mainly due to the fast-paced game that the Ducks play, similar to that of the Golden State Warriors.

While the Ducks probably should have won this game, this is no reason to believe that the season is lost. Remember that this Oregon team is a very young team. Half of the roster is made up of freshmen.

Rest assured, there will be growing pains, but at the end of the season this Oregon team will have improved tenfold and will definitely be ready to make a NCAA Tournament run the next season.