The Oakland Golden Grizzlies and the Drake Bulldogs meet Sunday in college basketball action from John Gray Gymnasium. Oakland is 1-2 on the year so far. The Grizzlies beat Bowling Green on Tuesday for their first victory of the season. As for Drake, they’re 2-0 so far following a win over SMSU in their last outing. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Oakland Golden Grizzlies
The Grizzlies had a couple of tricky matchups in their first two games of the year, starting with Ohio State in the opener. Oakland shot just 39.3 percent from the field in that one and got out-rebounded 42-30 in a 79-73 defeat. Game two was another loss for the Grizzlies, this time 64-53 versus Illinois. Oakland was better on the boards (32) but shot just 37.5 percent in that one.
The Golden Grizzlies managed their first win of the season versus Bowling Green on Tuesday. Oakland took a 38-28 edge into the break and ended up with an 81-62 result after 43 second-half points. Tops in scoring was Trey Townsend with 20 points, four rebounds and four assists. Jack Gohlke added 14 points with seven boards.
Drake Bulldogs
Over on the Drake side, they were down 48-44 to Lipscomb in their opener this year. The Bulldogs ended up shooting a nice 51.6 percent from the floor however, and posted an 85-70 victory. Drake hit nine of their 25 3-point attempts (36 percent) and out-rebounded the Bisons 36-26 along the way.
In the Bulldogs’ second matchup of the year, they faced off against Southwest Minnesota State. Drake took a 38-33 edge into the second half and posted 49 more points in an 87-67 victory. Atin Wright topped the team with his 25 points and three assists. Tucker DeVries chipped in 21 points with eight rebounds.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll stick with Drake in this one. Probably staying away, though. The Bulldogs didn’t have much trouble on the scoreboard versus Southwest Missouri State in their last game, shooting 53.7 percent from the field with 11-of-25 (44 percent) from outside. Drake went just 18-of-26 (69.2 percent from the line however, and got out-rebounded 34-31. The Bulldogs will have to muscle up on the boards in Sunday’s matchup if they want to stay in control.
As for Oakland, they looked pretty good against Bowling Green in their most recent outing. The Grizzlies have a couple of solid performances in the books thus far and could really give Drake some trouble if they’re hitting shots early.
