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Oakland downs Oral Roberts to win Summit League

Mar 9, 2011 - 5:05 AM Sioux Falls, SD (Sports Network) - Keith Benson scored 28 points and pulled down 14 rebounds as the Oakland Golden Grizzlies claimed their third straight Summit League championship with a 90-76 win over the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles.

Reggie Hamilton pitched in 26 points and six assists while Will Hudson notched 12 points and 10 boards for the No. 1 seed Grizzlies (25-9), who beat the second-seeded Eagles in all three matchups this season. Drew Valentine donated 10 points in the win.

Dominique Morrison posted 22 points and 11 rebounds for Oral Roberts (19-15), which had won 10 straight and hadn't lost since January 29. Warren Niles added 13 points while Damen Bell-Holter scored 11.

Steven Roundtree and Ken Holdman each had 10 points in the loss.

Oakland forged a lead as big as 16 during the first half an held onto a 45-33 edge at the break.

However, Oral Roberts scored the first seven points of the second half en route to an 11-2 run to pull within three. Morrison's layup with 17 1/2 minutes left finished the run and made it a 47-44 game.

Niles' three-pointer tied the game at 54 four minutes later and the game remained tight until Oakland pulled away with an 11-0 run to go up 71-59. Hamilton led the burst with five points and Benson added four.

Oakland kept rolling and made it an 84-64 game with 4 1/2 minutes left on Hamilton's fastbreak layup. The Grizzlies cruised from there to clinch their automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Game Notes

Oakland has beaten the Eagles all three times this season and has won the last six meetings...Oakland has won nine straight and has won 18 of its last 19 games...The Grizzlies landed 52.2 percent of their shots and had eight steals.