GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands – The Golden Grizzlies men’s basketball team continues its Cayman Islands Classic journey on the consolation side of the bracket as it’ll square off against Loyola Marymount Monday at 11 a.m. ET.
The Cayman Islands Classic, which takes place inside the John Gray Gymnasium in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, is a bracket-style tournament consisting of eight teams. Those teams include: Oakland, Drake, Loyola Marymount, Stephen F. Austin, Marshall, Utah State, Florida International and Akron. The tournament will take place Nov. 19-21 and all games will be streamed live on FloHoops along with all Oakland games live streamed through audio via The Bet1270 AM (WXYT-AM) & the Audacy App with Neal Ruhl on the call.
The Golden Grizzlies (1-3, 0-0 HL) dropped its opening game against the Drake Bulldogs today (Nov. 19) to move on to the consolation side of the bracket.
The Golden Grizzlies came out running on all cylinders from three, as 12 of its first 18 points came from deep. Oakland maintained a 21-13 lead, but an 8-0 Drake run put it behind to force the Golden Grizzlies to play catch up. However, Rocket Watts put an end to the run which ignited a 5-0 run itself.
Drake continued to tack on points but Oakland had answers as Isaiah Jones took the ball into the hole with :10 seconds to go in the half. Drake came back down the floor and got two right before the buzzer to put it ahead at half, 37-36.
Just like the first half, the second half went back-and-forth as Oakland made it a two-point game with under five to go. However, seven-straight points from the Bulldogs put the game out of reach despite a late push from the Golden Grizzlies as it eventually fell, 85-77.
Oakland was led by Watts with 23 points, tying his career-high, and tacked on two boards. Trey Townsend nearly had a double-double with nine boards to go along with his 11 points. The ball was distributed well amongst Oakland as four Golden Grizzlies had double-digit point games as Chris Conway had 12, followed by a season-high 11 points from Tuburu Naivalurua.
Oakland shot better than 50% from the floor (30-of-58) with 10 points accounted for from the free throw line. The Bulldogs also shot well from the floor in the second half and went 15-of-29 with five three pointers added on. The Golden Grizzlies shot better from the field than the Bulldogs (.462) but its 12 threes were the difference maker. The Golden Grizzlies played well on the glass and had a differential of +9.
SCOUTING THE LIONS
The Golden Grizzlies take on the Lions for the first time in school history. The Lions, who play out of Los Angeles, Calif., have made the NCAA tournament five* times *1980 appearance vacated by NCAA* with its best performance coming in 1990 when the Lions advanced to the Elite Eight.
LMU (2-2, 0-0 WCC) dropped its opening game of the Cayman Islands Classic today (Nov. 19) against Stephen F. Austin after it started the season 2-1.
The Lions opened up its season with a big 109-68 win, followed by a near loss to Yale and rebounded for a 22 point win over Jackson State University. In its loss to SFA, SFA came back from a 39-33 deficit after the half and put up 53 in the final 20 minutes of play. The Lions saw three players reach double digits for points scored, led by fifth year guard Justice Hill out of Little Rock, Ark. A transfer from LSU, Hill leads the team in points scored with 17 points per game, but the Lions distributed the ball well with four players averaging 10+ points per game. Hill also leads the players in field goal percentage, as he’s gone 24-of-40 (.600) in the four games played this season.
After its big season opener, the Lions, on average, outscore its opposition 88.3-75.8 and shoot greater than 50% from the floor (125-of-245). LMU thrives from range as it hits at a .410 clip (43-of-105) and lead on the glass by a margin of +5.5.
Tip-off from the John Gray Gymnasium is slated for 11 a.m. ET, Monday, Nov. 20.
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