The Oakland Golden Grizzlies and the Eastern Michigan Eagles meet Friday in college basketball action from EMU Convocation Center. Oakland is fresh off a Wednesday matchup versus Toledo. In that one the Grizzlies lost a close game to drop back to .500 overall. As for Eastern Michigan, they’re 5-3 on the year so far after a win over Lake Superior State last Friday. Let’s get into our Oakland vs. Eastern Michigan prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Oakland Golden Grizzlies 

The Grizzlies went just 1-3 over their first four games this year, losing to Ohio State, Illinois and Drake. Oakland would then hit a four-game win streak over Loyola Marymount, Marshall, Xavier and Detroit Mercy before another loss to Fort Wayne. In the 98-77 loss to the Mastodons, Oakland gave up 66.7 percent shooting from the field. 

In Wednesday’s matchup versus Toledo, the Grizzlies had a four-point lead at the break but ended up losing 69-68 after a 37-32 deficit in the second half. Trey Townsend (six rebounds) and Blake Lampman (three rebounds) each scored a team-high 14 points. 

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Eastern Michigan Eagles 

Over on the Eagles’ side, they started the year off on a rough run as well. Eastern Michigan lost to Butler and Florida Atlantic in their first three games, but then came back with wins over Cleveland State, Detroit Mercy and Central Arkansas before another loss to North Dakota. The Eagles shot 49.1 percent from the floor against the Hawks in the 72-70 finish. 

Eastern Michigan was able to get back into the win column in their latest matchup versus Lake Superior State. The Eagles started out modestly at a 29-29 halftime run, but eventually took the win 68-53. Tyson Acuff was the team’s top scorer on 24 points with three assists and two rebounds. 

ANDREW’S FREE OAKLAND VS EASTERN MICHIGAN PREDICTION 

I’ll stick with Eastern Michigan. Probably not touching this one, though. The Eagles posted a relatively modest win over Lake Superior State in their last outing but still shot well on 44.4 percent overall. Eastern Michigan added 45 rebounds and 12 assists in the 15-point win as well. That makes 68 or more points in five straight games for the Eagles. 

As for Oakland, on Wednesday they weren’t great versus Toledo. The Grizzlies shot a tepid 42.6 percent from the field with just six assists and only got to the line seven times (versus 17 for the Rockets). Oakland has been scoring pretty well this year though, so I think this one will be a high-total finish.