Leathernecks fall to Oakland after Two Grueling Overtime Periods

MACOMB, Ill. - For the second time this season the Leatherneck men's basketball team dropped a hard fought Summit League battle at home that lasted two grueling overtime periods, this time to Oakland, 74-70, in front of a season-high 2,124 fans.

In fact, Saturday night's crowd at Waste Management court was the largest since November 26th, 2005, when the Leathernecks played host to Indiana (5,021).

Oakland improves to 13-13 overall and 7-7 in league games, while Western falls to 13-9 overall and 7-6 in Summit League games.

"It's hard to bounce back from this," said head coach Jim Molinari. "You have to continue to play well because when you're playing well it's hard for it to go bad. We didn't play well but we played extremely hard. We'll do whatever we have to do. I love our guys, they never quit. We just have to continue to fight. Give Oakland credit. They have some athletes that really play well. Their guards had 60 of their 74 points. We'll look at that and see what we could have done differently. They'll have those nights but we'll make those adjustments."

Senior guard Ceola Clark III continued to lead the Leathernecks, posting a team-high 22 points, seven rebounds, and five assists to only one turnover while playing 49 of the 50 minutes. Freshman forward Obi Emegano also produced on the offensive end, scoring 18 points, connecting on 6-of-12 from the field, and making all six of his free throw attempts.

Junior forward Terell Parks, who found himself in foul trouble early on, tallied 10 points and grabbed seven boards. Rounding out the double figure scoring was senior guard Tommie Tyler who recorded 11 points, while dishing out five assists and collecting three steals.

"I thought the crowd was into it tonight, but our free throw shooting caught up to us," continued Molinari. "Other than that I can't say enough about Ceola (Clark) and Obi (Emegano). I thought Obi played more complete and I thought Ceola was Ceola."

The Golden Grizzlies were led by Reggie Hamilton who recorded a game-high 40 points, 27 of which came from nine three-pointers.

"When a guy hits 40 you have to look at it," said Molinari. "We double the ball screen and shut him down for a while, but then they stopped screening. They're capable of doing that. He has that in him. Give Oakland and Reggie credit."

After a back-and-forth and exciting regulation the Leathernecks found themselves down 50-47 with under a minute to play. It was Clark who connected on an NBA-range triple with 38 seconds left that would send the game into overtime as Oakland's Hamilton would miss the potential game-winner as the buzzer sounded.

After missing some clutch free throws at the end of regulation, Tyler scored the first point of overtime, a free throw one minute in. Oakland's Bader would match that moments later, making it 51-51 with 3:30 left in the first overtime.

The two teams would go back-and-forth for the next two minutes, and it was Clark who dropped another tough, clutch triple with 1:20 left in overtime, but Hamilton would not go down without swinging, responding with big shot after big shot until the two teams were locked up at 60 and heading into a second overtime.

Western would again gain the first lead, this time by way of two Emegano free throws. After three minutes of play in the second overtime, Western found itself down by four points, 68-64.

But a triple from junior forward Jack Houpt with just under one minute to play would get Western within one, 70-69, but a three from OU's Travis Bader would give Oakland its four-point lead back, 73-69. The Golden Grizzlies would use clutch free throws down the stretch to seal the victory, 74-70.

Western finished the game having shot 44.4% from the floor, while Oakland connected on 43.6% of its shots from the field. The Leathernecks turned the ball over just nine times and has as many steals as miscues (9).

The Leathernecks will hit the road for a pair of Summit League contests, first at Southern Utah on Thursday, Feb. 9th, followed by a trip to Oral Roberts on Saturday, Feb. 11th.

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Players Mentioned

#22 Ceola Clark III: G; 6' 3"; Senior; Warren Township

#3 Tommie Tyler: G; 6' 3"; Senior; Langham Creek

#32 Jack Houpt: F; 6' 7"; Junior; Chesterton / Bridgton Academy / South Suburban

#43 Terell Parks: F/C; 6' 7"; Junior; Memorial

#15 Obi Emegano: F; 6' 3"; Freshman; Memorial

Players Mentioned

#22 Ceola Clark III
: 6' 3"; Senior; Warren Township
: G

#3 Tommie Tyler
: 6' 3"; Senior; Langham Creek
: G

#32 Jack Houpt
: 6' 7"; Junior; Chesterton / Bridgton Academy / South Suburban
: F

#43 Terell Parks
: 6' 7"; Junior; Memorial
: F/C

#15 Obi Emegano
: 6' 3"; Freshman; Memorial
: F