National Basketball Association
Michigan St 77, Oakland 65
When: 7:00 PM ET, Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Where: Jack Breslin Student Events Center, East Lansing, Michigan
Officials:
# Terry Wymer, # Bill Elk, # Steve McJunkins
Attendance:
14797
By The Sports Xchange
Freshman center Nick Ward had 25 points and nine rebounds to lead Michigan State to a 77-65 win over Oakland University on Wednesday.
Senior guard Eron Harris added 15 for the Spartans (8-5) in a matchup of two teams that were coming off home losses to Northeastern earlier this week.
Four players scored in double-figures for Oakland, which is now 0-15 all-time against Michigan State.
Junior guard Stevie Clark had 13 points, juniors Martez Walker and Jalen Hayes each scored 11 points and senior Sherron Dorsey-Walker added 10 points for the Golden Grizzlies.
Hayes fouled out with 7:56 remaining after playing just 12 minutes.
After leading at halftime by a score of 34-32, Michigan State started to gain some separation midway through the second half, extending its lead to 52-41 with 11:50 remaining and holding Oakland without a field goal for nearly five minutes during that stretch.
Oakland (9-3) responded with a 7-0 run to cut its deficit to 52-48 with 10:15 left, but Michigan State restored its lead to 11 points at 61-50 following a 3-pointer by senior Eron Harris with 6:55 remaining.
The Golden Grizzlies closed within six points at 71-65 with 39.3 seconds left, but four straight free throws by Michigan State upped the Spartans lead to 75-65 with 25 seconds remaining to effectively end the game.
This was the last non-conference game of the season for Michigan State, which enters Big 10 play 8-5 and in need of a good conference record to extend its streak of NCAA tournament appearances to 20.
The Spartans will open conference play on Tuesday at Minnesota.
Oakland will have a non-conference home game on Friday against Georgia before opening up conference play at Wright State on Dec. 29.
Top Game Performances
| Oakland |
|
Michigan St |
|
Stevie Clark 13 |
Scoring |
Nick Ward 25 |
|
Sherron Dorsey-Walker 4 |
Assists |
Cassius Winston 8 |
|
Martez Walker 7 |
Rebounds |
Nick Ward 9 |
|
Martez Walker 6 |
Free Throws Made |
Nick Ward 11 |
|
Brad Brechting 3 |
Steals |
Eron Harris 3 |
|
Xavier Hill-Mais 3 |
Blocks |
Kenny Goins 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Oakland
|
65 |
36.8 |
8-24 |
15-21 |
10 |
30 |
5 |
11 |
21 |
| Michigan St
|
77 |
47.9 |
7-16 |
24-37 |
15 |
36 |
7 |
11 |
18 |
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