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National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Michigan St 77, Oakland 65
When: 7:00 PM ET, Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Where: Jack Breslin Student Events Center, East Lansing, Michigan
Officials: # Terry Wymer, # Bill Elk, # Steve McJunkins
Attendance: 14797

Freshman center Nick Ward had 25 points and nine rebounds to lead Michigan State to a 77-65 win over Oakland University on Wednesday.

Senior guard Eron Harris added 15 for the Spartans (8-5) in a matchup of two teams that were coming off home losses to Northeastern earlier this week.

Four players scored in double-figures for Oakland, which is now 0-15 all-time against Michigan State.

Junior guard Stevie Clark had 13 points, juniors Martez Walker and Jalen Hayes each scored 11 points and senior Sherron Dorsey-Walker added 10 points for the Golden Grizzlies.

Hayes fouled out with 7:56 remaining after playing just 12 minutes.

After leading at halftime by a score of 34-32, Michigan State started to gain some separation midway through the second half, extending its lead to 52-41 with 11:50 remaining and holding Oakland without a field goal for nearly five minutes during that stretch.

Oakland (9-3) responded with a 7-0 run to cut its deficit to 52-48 with 10:15 left, but Michigan State restored its lead to 11 points at 61-50 following a 3-pointer by senior Eron Harris with 6:55 remaining.

The Golden Grizzlies closed within six points at 71-65 with 39.3 seconds left, but four straight free throws by Michigan State upped the Spartans lead to 75-65 with 25 seconds remaining to effectively end the game.

This was the last non-conference game of the season for Michigan State, which enters Big 10 play 8-5 and in need of a good conference record to extend its streak of NCAA tournament appearances to 20.

The Spartans will open conference play on Tuesday at Minnesota.

Oakland will have a non-conference home game on Friday against Georgia before opening up conference play at Wright State on Dec. 29.
Top Game Performances
 
Oakland   Michigan St
Stevie Clark 13 Scoring Nick Ward 25
Sherron Dorsey-Walker 4 Assists Cassius Winston 8
Martez Walker 7 Rebounds Nick Ward 9
Martez Walker 6 Free Throws Made Nick Ward 11
Brad Brechting 3 Steals Eron Harris 3
Xavier Hill-Mais 3 Blocks Kenny Goins 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Oakland 65 36.8 8-24 15-21 10 30 5 11 21
Michigan St 77 47.9 7-16 24-37 15 36 7 11 18