Oakland men win Summit title; OU women & the MAC fall

The 1st Michigan-based Division I team is finally in the big dance: the Oakland Golden Grizzlies. The men are back-to-back Summit League champions after defeating Oral Roberts 90-76. Oakland's Keith Benson led the Grizzlies with 28 points, along with Reggie Hamilton with 26 points. The Summit League title is Oakland's third, dating back to 2005. The Golden Grizzlies will now wait until Sunday evening to see who they will face in the NCAA tournament. Despite an impressive record of 25-9, the NCAA will most likely not take them seriously and give them a low seed just because the Summit League is not a "power" conference. Just the same, Oakland would like to believe they'll be placed fairly well in the tournament.




While the men celebrated, the Oakland women were not in the mood. In front of a crowd of mostly South Dakota natives, the Grizzlies battled hard, but it wasn't enough as they lost the Summit League championship to the South Dakota State Jackrabbits, 61-54. With a record of 20-12, there may be a slim chance Oakland gets in the women's NCAA tournament, but again, the NCAA will not look at the Summit League seriously because they're not a "power" conference.

For two Michigan schools in the MAC, their season is over. In the first round of the men's MAC tournament, #9 Central Michigan lost to #8 Buffalo, 64-50 and #11 Eastern Michigan lost to #6 Akron, 67-53. The CMU Chippewas finished the season at 10-21 while the EMU Eagles wrapped up theirs at 9-22. The last hope for the state of Michigan in the MAC on the men's side are the #2 Western Michigan Broncos, who will play in the quarterfinals this Thursday at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH against #7 Bowling Green. The game is set to begin at noon.