Wolverines Outlast Oakland 89-76

The Michigan basketball team improved to 8-2 on the season with an 89-76 win over Oakland on Saturday afternoon at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Michigan had four scorers in double digits, including transfer Laval Lucas-Perry who finished with 14. DeShawn Sims led the Wolverines with 20 points.

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- The Michigan basketball team used a blistering shooting performance that included 10 three-point field goals in the first half and then surged again late to disburse of the Oakland University Grizzlies by the score of 89-76 to improve to 8-2 on the season.

The Wolverines, who built a 42-34 lead at halftime, finished with four scorers in double digits. DeShawn Sims led all U-M scorers with 20 points. Manny Harris chipped in 15, plus 13 assists, and transfer Laval Lucas-Perry and freshman Stu Douglass scored 14 and 12 each.

Douglass scored the first nine points of the game for Michigan, opening the contest with three consecutive triples. Oakland answered and took a 15-14 lead minutes into the first half, but a quick 15-0 surge by the Wolverines put Michigan on top for good.

Kelvin Grady started the U-M run with a triple with 14:13 to play in the half. Zack Novak made it 19-15 three minutes later. Then Lucas-Perry made it 25-15 on a pair of triples for his first official points as a Wolverine.

Zach Gibson and DeShawn Sims each added a bucket before a third Lucas-Perry three-ball to make it 32-15 Michigan.

Oakland rallied to trim the lead to 42-34 before the break.

The Grizzlies continued to chip away to start the second half, at one point bringing the Michigan lead to just four points. Erik Kangas, who finished with 15 points for Oakland, scored 12 in the second half to ignite the Oakland offense.

His first three-ball, a triple with 13 minutes left in the game, brought Oakland back to within 13 at 58-45. He hit again on his next shot to make it a 10-point game.

As Michigan's fortunes shooting the ball changed, Oakland continued to draw closer. A Layup by Johnathon Jones and a pair of free throws by Keith Benson brought Oakland within four twice, the second time making it 69-65 with just 6:08 to play.

Zach Gibson connected on a pair of free throws to end the run, though, and Zach Novak and Kelvin Grady each hit triples on consecutive possessions to push Michigan's lead back to 12 points with 4:23 to play.

Over the final four minutes the teams exchanged buckets in the 13-point Michigan win.

The Wolverines, now 8-2, finished 13-of-29 from behind the three-point arc after starting the game 10-for-15 on its first 15 triple tries.

The Wolverines next return to the court to take on Florida Gulf Coast on Monday night at Crisler Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00.