Purdue Fort Wayne
Oakland
Kangas Shoots Oakland Past IPFW, 93-88
1/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 17, 2009
Fort Wayne, IN - Oakland guard Erik Kangas scored a career-high 39 points as Oakland shot its way past IPFW, 93-88 on Saturday night at the Memorial Coliseum.
Both teams shot "lights-out" in the contest with Oakland hitting 58.9% from the field and the Mastodons averaging 58.2% from the floor.
IPFW hit a season-high 14 3-pointers, while the Golden Grizzlies bagged 12 triples, eight by Kangas.
Oakland led early on a 3-ball from junior guard Johnathon Jones and a layup by sophomore forward Will Hudson. That gave the Grizzlies a 16-10 edge.
In a 2:37 stretch in the middle of the first half, IPFW tied it up on 3-pointers by junior guard Nick Daniels, sophomore guard Ben Botts, and senior forward David Carson. That flurry of triples knotted the game at 23-all with 10:07 left in the opening session.
However, Kangas tallied 15 points by the end of the half, and Oakland finished the period on a 20-9 run to lead 43-32 at the break.
The second half was a slugfest.
Daniels and sophomore guard Zach Plackemeier came out and hit back-to-back threes, and on a pair of triples by Botts, IPFW cut the Oakland lead to just three at 62-59.
But every time IPFW crept back into it, Kangas turned them back.
A pair of Kangas 3-pointers sandwiched around a steal and slam from OU guard Drew Maynard pushed the Oakland lead back into double-digits.
IPFW, who outscored Oakland 56-50 in the second half, made one final late run as a Carson three cut the Grizzlies' lead to six, but Oakland was able to hold on for the five point win.
Kangas and Oakland (11-9, 4-3) were bolstered by 20 points from Jones and 16 from Hudson. Hudson also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds (six offensive).
IPFW (7-11, 2-5) was led by Botts, who equaled his career-high with 22 points. Carson added 21, while Daniels and Plackemeier had 17 and 12 points, respectively.
IPFW will return to action on Thursday night, hosting Western Illinois at the Hilliard Gates Sports Center. Game time is 7:00 pm.
~Dons~
