Oakland Oak 8-12,5-4 Horizon

Detroit Mercy UDM 6-14,2-7 Horizon

Oakland Oak

8-12,5-4 Horizon

Final

Jan. 18, 2025

Detroit Mercy UDM

6-14,2-7 Horizon

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Oakland Oak	34	31	65
Detroit Mercy UDM	26	33	59

Summary
Box Score

Freshman Ryan Kalambay tallied his first career double-double against Oakland.

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 01.18.25

Titans Comeback Bid Falls Short In #MetroSeries

DETROIT (1/18/2024) -- Freshman Nate Johnson scored 16 points, while fellow freshman Ryan Kalambay posted a career-high 13 points and 11 rebounds for his first career double-double but the comeback effort came up short as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team fell to #MetroSeries-rival Oakland, 65-59, on Saturday afternoon.

Kalambay was 4-of-8 from the field and 5-of-6 at the line, while collecting an assist, steal and block. Johnson was 6-of-13 and 3-of-5 from distance, along with five rebounds, two assists and to steals, while redshirt freshman Grant Gondrezick chipped in 11 points, four rebounds and a season-high three steals.

A 20-6 run by the Golden Grizzlies (7-13, 4-5 HL) midway through the first half allowed them to open up an eight-point lead. The Titans (6-14, 2-7 HL) cut the deficit to three with a three-pointer by Gondrezick, but Oakland went on another run to go into the halftime break up 34-26. The Titans were outrebounded 20-15 in the opening half, and shot 10-of-28 (35.7%) from the field. Johnson led UDM with 10 points at the half, while Kalambay matched his career-high with eight points in the opening period.

After Oakland went up by 12 early in the second half, 3-pointers by Gondrezick and freshman TJ Nadeau cut the OU lead to just five 40-35 at the under-16 media break. Oakland responded, however with back-to-back triples to go up 11 with 13:54 remaining.

UDM refused to back down, cutting the lead to just seven with 6:12 remaining following a basket by junior Orlando Lovejoy. The Golden Grizzlies countered with a 7-0 run to go ahead 61-47 with 4:44 to go for their largest lead of the afternoon.

The Titans refused to quit as Johnson hit a three with two minutes remaining to make the score 63-57. Following a shot-clock violation, Johnson hit a runner to make it a four-point game with 1:01 remaining and forcing an Oakland timeout.

Out of the timeout, Detroit Mercy began to foul Oakland, who hit their free throws down the stretch and played solid defense to escape Calihan Hall victorious.

The Titans as a team shot 21-of-56 from the field (37.5%), 7-of-17 from three-point range (41.2%), and 10-of-15 (66.7%) from the charity stripe.

Lovejoy returned to the Titan lineup after missing last week's game against Purdue Fort Wayne and finished with nine points, five assists, and four rebounds, with Nadeau adding six points.

UDM will continue #HLMBB action with a game at Cleveland State on Wednesday night, followed by a contest at Wright State on Saturday.

Game Notes:

This was the 36th meeting between the two schools, located about 26 miles apart, as Oakland now leads the series, 21-15, and has won 15 of the last 17 overall and 20 of 24 since joining the league in 2013-14
Detroit Mercy has now made double-digit 3-pointers just once this season (11 at home vs. Purdue Fort Wayne) and three times going back to the start of last year (spanning 52 games)
Lovejoy saw his streak of 20-point games come to an end at four
Lovejoy has now grabbed at least three rebounds in 16 games, has at least three assists in 14 games and five or more in seven, and at least one steal in 16 games with seven multi-steal contests
Nadeau has now connected on a three in 15 of his 20 games
Johnson has scored in double figures in back-to-back games after his 19 at Purdue Fort Wayne
Johnson now has seven games in double figures, 17 games with three or more rebounds, and six games with at least two assists
Gondrezick II has posted double figures in nine of the last 12 games - three of those reaching 20 - after scoring just 16 total points in his first seven contests
Gondrezick II's previous high in steals was two at NKU
Kalambay's previous high in points was eight against Cleary in the season opener, while his high in rebounds was six at IU Indy and at Davidson
After starting the season 5-of-17 at the free throw line, Kalambay has now made 9-of-10 in the last two games