Healthy Grizzlies aim to hand ORU its first Summit League loss

The Oakland (Mich.) Golden Grizzlies might seem like a different team from the one Oral Roberts beat in the Detroit suburbs last month.

The Grizzlies have 3-point bomber Erik Kangas back in harness and are riding a three-game winning streak.

They'd love to inflict ORU's first Summit League loss of the season when they visit the Mabee Center on Thursday night.

"When we're healthy and playing well, we have a pretty good team," Oakland head coach Greg Kampe said.

But the Grizzlies weren't at full strength when ORU won 66-60 in Rochester, Mich., behind Robert Jarvis' 20 points on Jan. 12.

Kangas, who led the former Mid-Continent Conference with 109 3-pointers last season, was still nursing a sore shoulder after breaking his collarbone nine minutes into the Grizzlies' first game of the season.

Kampe said "(Kangas) was a zombie in that game" and might not have played at all -- if senior Brandon Cassise hadn't been suspended for two games. Kangas shot only 1-of-6 from behind the arc and scored five points.

ORU coach Scott Sutton understands what the Grizzlies were missing. Kangas made six first-half 3-pointers against ORU in the final of the conference tournament last March. But the Eagles rallied from an 11-point deficit and Kangas missed a 3-pointer in the closing seconds that would have won for Oakland.

"He's a tremendous player and one of the best shooters in the league. So yeah, take a guy that's averaging (14.1 points) off a team, or have him not playing at full strength, and that's going to hurt," Sutton said.

At 15-5 overall, ORU will try to extend its record Summit League start to 11-0 and stretch its current winning streak to nine games. That would tie the longest streak in nine years under Sutton.

Kangas, a 6-foot-3 junior, has played only 17 of Oakland's 22 games -- one reason the Grizzlies (12-10, 7-4) have been up and down. But he made 4-of-8 from behind the arc in a 68-62 upset of then-No. 23 Oregon on Dec. 22, and is 17-of-29 over the last four games.

His 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds left was the difference in a 77-74 win over North Dakota State last Thursday, and he made 5-of-7 from behind the arc in Saturday's 78-68 win over South Dakota State.

The Grizzlies have other weapons. Junior forward Derick Nelson ranks among the Summit League leaders in scoring (17.3) and rebounding (6.7). Sophomore guard Johnathon Jones leads the league in assists (5.8).

Mike Brown 581-8390
mike.brown@tulsaworld.com