Coming into Sunday’s matchup, the Golden Grizzlies of Oakland University had been an unpredictable game for the Spartan hoop team. Last year, MSU pulled out a narrow four-point victory on Oakland’s home court. This year, that was not the case.

The final score of the game was 87-61 MSU, a victory that came behind some prolific marksmanship from beyond the arc. A three-point percentage of 58.8 with 10 of 17 three-point shots that MSU attempted finding their mark made it a tough night for the Grizzlies.

This shooting helped the Spartans build a 13-point lead going into the half, and then they continued to double that up in a solid all-around effort.

Denzel Valentine led all scorers with 19 points on the night, finishing with a final shot total of 7-12. Branden Dawson scored 15 points on 7-14 shooting, and Bryn Forbes and Marvin Clark Jr. both finished with 12 points. Oakland only led the game for 34 seconds if that gives any indication of the kind of night that it was for coach Greg Kampe and his squad.

A solid victory over a Horizon League opponent has the Breslin Center faithful eying down a matchup against the Eastern Michigan Eagles on Wednesday. In the case that you somehow missed it, the Eagles beat the Michigan Wolverines by a score of 45-42 recently.

Eastern is 8-1 on the year, and seems to possessing an upset state of mind. It is  going to be an interesting game for the Spartans. Tune in at 9 p.m. on Wednesday to catch the action.

Nick Carver is a multimedia journalist for Impact Sports

Photo: Jonathan Yales/Impact Sports