# 2008–09 Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team

The 2008–09 Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team was a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college basketball team representing Oakland University.
Oakland was picked to finish third in The Summit League's preseason poll. Oral Roberts was voted to finish first and North Dakota State second. However, only eight votes separated the three teams. Senior forward Derick Nelson and junior guard Johnathon Jones were named to the Preseason All-League First Team. Senior guard Erik Kangas was named to the Second Team.
Prior to the first game of the year against Cleveland State, senior forward Derick Nelson suffered a foot injury and sat out most of the season. Nelson played in two games against Eastern Michigan and Michigan State, but did not record a point and took a medical redshirt. Oakland lost their first game against CSU and defeated Pacific-10 Conference opponent Oregon for the second year in a row.

## Roster

| No. | Name | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown (Previous school) |
| 34 | Keith Benson | C | 6'11" | 225 | So. | Farmington Hills, MI (Country Day) |
| 21 | Ricky Bieszki | G | 6'2" | 190 | Sr. | Shelby Township, MI (Notre Dame Preparatory) |
| 22 | Blake Cushingberry | G | 6'4" | 225 | Fr. | Romeo, MI (Romeo) |
| 4 | Will Hudson | F | 6'9" | 225 | So. | Madison, WI (Middleton) |
| 23 | Johnathon Jones | G | 5'11" | 165 | Jr. | Okemos, MI (Okemos) |
| 30 | Erik Kangas | G | 6'3" | 205 | Sr. | DeWitt, MI (DeWitt) |
| 32 | John Kast | G | 6'2" | 175 | Jr. | Clarkston, MI (Clarkston) |
| 31 | Drew Maynard | G | 6'7" | 220 | Fr. | Lake Orion, MI (Lake Orion) |
| 20 | Ilija Milutinovic | C | 7'0" | 255 | Fr. | Niš, Serbia (Milestone Christian Academy (MO)) |
| 1 | Derick Nelson * | F | 6'5" | 235 | Sr. | Lansing, MI (Bridgton Academy) |
| 12 | Matt Samuels | G | 6'0" | 215 | Fr. | Washington, D.C. (Patterson) |
| 44 | Jay Thames * | F | 6'9" | 220 | Fr. | Port Huron, MI (Port Huron Northern) |
| 45 | Dan Waterstradt | C | 6'10" | 240 | Sr. | Dearborn Heights, MI (Rutgers) |
| 2 | Larry Wright * | G | 6'2" | 172 | Jr. | Saginaw, MI (St. John's) |
* Redshirting 2008–2009 season

## Awards

* Keith Benson
** Summit League Player of the Week
*** Week 12 – Averaged 15.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, 5.5 blocks, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game and shot 82.4 percent (14–17) for the week.
* Johnathon Jones
** Summit League Player of the Week (2)
*** Week 2 – Averaged 23.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.7 steals against Oregon, Syracuse and Iowa.
*** Week 13 – Averaging 15.0 points and 12.5 assists per game against Oral Roberts and Centenary.
* Erik Kangas
** Summit League Player of the Week (2)
*** Week 10 – Career-high 39-point game that included 8–13 shooting from three-point range in victory at IPFW.
*** Week 11 – Averaged 30.0 points and 7.5 three-pointers per game. Kangas shot 65% from three-point range. Kangas was the first player to earn back-to-back player of the week awards since the 2004–2005 season.

## Milestones

* Erik Kangas set the Oakland record for career three-pointers made
* Keith Benson set the Oakland record for single-game blocks with eight
* Keith Benson set the Oakland record for single-season blocks

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| November 15, 2008* 7:00pm | at Cleveland State | L 55-58 | 0–1 | Wolstein Center (2,078) Cleveland, OH |
| November 17, 2008* 10:00pm, CSN Northwest | at Oregon | W 82–79 $^{OT}$ | 1–1 | McArthur Court (7,924) Eugene, OR |
| November 21, 2008* 7:00pm, Time Warner Sports | at Syracuse | L 66-86 | 1–2 | Carrier Dome (18,932) Syracuse, NY |
| November 23, 2008* 6:05pm, Big Ten Network | at Iowa Las Vegas Invitational | L 57-66 | 1–3 | Carver-Hawkeye Arena (8,079) Iowa City, IA |
| November 25, 2008* 8:00pm, FSN Kansas City | at Kansas State Las Vegas Invitational | L 64-83 | 1–4 | Bramlage Coliseum (8,356) Manhattan, KS |
| November 28, 2008* 6:30pm | vs. Delaware State Las Vegas Invitational | W 75–70 | 2–4 | Orleans Arena (2,067) Las Vegas, NV |
| November 29, 2008* 5:00pm | vs. Southeast Missouri State Las Vegas Invitational | W 81–63 | 3–4 | Orleans Arena (N/A) Las Vegas, NV |
| December 2, 2008 9:00pm | at Southern Utah | L 66-82 | 3–5 (0–1) | Centrum Arena (2,059) Cedar City, UT |
| December 4, 2008 8:00pm, Metro Sports | at UMKC | W 84–78 | 4–5 (1–1) | Municipal Auditorium (1,412) Kansas City, MO |
| December 7, 2008* 1:00pm | Toledo | W 67–58 | 5–5 | Athletics Center O'rena (2,315) Rochester, MI |
| December 14, 2008* 4:00pm | Rochester | W 88–54 | 6–5 | Athletics Center O'rena (2,125) Rochester, MI |
| December 18, 2008* 8:00pm, WACY | at Green Bay | W 79–76 $^{OT}$ | 7–5 | Resch Center (2,587) Green Bay, WI |
| December 20, 2008* 4:00pm, FSN Detroit | vs. Michigan | L 76-89 | 7–6 | The Palace of Auburn Hills (10,113) Auburn Hills, MI |
| December 22, 2008* 7:00pm | at Eastern Michigan | W 66–53 | 8–6 | Convocation Center (389) Ypsilanti, MI |
| December 27, 2008* 5:00pm, Fox College Sports | vs. No. 11 Michigan State | L 66-82 | 8–7 | The Palace of Auburn Hills (15,361) Auburn Hills, MI |
| December 31, 2008 4:00pm | South Dakota State | W 86–81 | 9–7 (2–1) | Athletics Center O'rena (2,165) Rochester, MI |
| January 2, 2009 7:00pm | North Dakota State | W 77–76 | 10–7 (3–1) | Athletics Center O'rena (2,665) Rochester, MI |
| January 8, 2009 9:00pm | at Centenary | L 60-80 | 10–8 (3–2) | Gold Dome (775) Shreveport, LA |
| January 10, 2009 8:05pm, Fox College Sports | at Oral Roberts | L 65-68 $^{OT}$ | 10–9 (3–3) | Mabee Center (5,354) Tulsa, OK |
| January 17, 2009 7:00pm | at IPFW | W 93–88 | 11–9 (4–3) | Allen County War Memorial Coliseum (2,650) Fort Wayne, IN |
| January 22, 2009 7:00pm, FSN Detroit | IUPUI | W 75–57 | 12–9 (5–3) | Athletics Center O'rena (2,805) Rochester, MI |
| January 24, 2009 6:00pm | Western Illinois | W 86–46 | 13–9 (6–3) | Athletics Center O'rena (3,125) Rochester, MI |
| January 29, 2009 8:30pm | at North Dakota State | L 71-81 | 13–10 (6–4) | Bison Sports Arena (4,552) Fargo, ND |
| January 31, 2009 8:30pm | at South Dakota State | L 68-74 $^{OT}$ | 13–11 (6–5) | Frost Arena (5,740) Brookings, SD |
| February 5, 2009 7:00pm | Oral Roberts | W 81–69 | 14–11 (7–5) | Athletics Center O'rena (2,355) Rochester, MI |
| February 7, 2009 6:00pm | Centenary | W 78–65 | 15–11 (8–5) | Athletics Center O'rena (3,855) Rochester, MI |
| February 14, 2009 6:00pm | IPFW | W 83–72 | 16–11 (9–5) | Athletics Center O'rena (2,905) Rochester, MI |
| February 19, 2009 8:00pm, WIU TV | at Western Illinois | W 77–52 | 17–11 (10–5) | Western Hall (878) Macomb, IL |
| February 21, 2009 7:00pm | at IUPUI | W 81–76 | 18–11 (11–5) | IUPUI Gymnasium (1,215) Indianapolis, IN |
| February 26, 2009 7:00pm | Southern Utah | W 78–62 | 19–11 (12–5) | Athletics Center O'rena (2,365) Rochester, MI |
| February 28, 2009 6:00pm | UMKC | W 100–88 | 20–11 (13–5) | Athletics Center O'rena (3,875) Rochester, MI |
| March 8, 2009 9:30pm | vs. IPFW Summit League conference tournament quarterfinals | W 75–62 | 21–11 | Sioux Falls Arena (2,411) Sioux Falls, SD |
| March 9, 2009 9:30pm | vs. South Dakota State Summit League conference tournament semifinals | W 74–56 | 22–11 | Sioux Falls Arena (5,986) Sioux Falls, SD |
| March 10, 2009 8:00pm, ESPN2 | vs. North Dakota State Summit League conference tournament finals | L 64-66 | 22–12 | Sioux Falls Arena (3,804) Sioux Falls, SD |
| March 17, 2009* 7:00pm | Kent State CollegeInsider.com Tournament first round | W 80–74 | 23–12 | Athletics Center O'rena (2,155) Rochester, MI |
| March 23, 2009* 8:00pm | at Bradley CollegeInsider.com Tournament quarterfinals | L 75-76 | 23–13 | Carver Arena (5,007) Peoria, IL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||