March 16, 2005

POST-GAME NOTES

The first-ever win in the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship for Oakland, playing in its first NCAA Tournament.

Oakland will play North Carolina on Friday in Charlotte in the First Round of the Syracuse Region.

Oakland wins its sixth-straight game to improve to 13-18 on the season.

Tonight's game marks the fourth-straight time a team with a losing record has won the Opening Round Game.

Alabama A & M, also appearing in its first-ever NCAA Tournament, falls to 0-1 all-time, and finishes the season at 18-14.

Oakland's Rawle Marshall's 29 points are the third-highest total in an Opening Round Game, trailing only the 38 by Princeton's Kevin Mullin (vs San Diego, 3-13-1984) and 31 by Siena's Prosper Karangwa (vs Alcorn State, 3-12-2002).

Marshall reached the 20-point plateau for the 18th time this season. Marshall scored in double-figures in scoring for the 30th time in 31 games.

Oakland's Cortney Scott recorded his eighth 20-point game of the season, finishing with 24.

Alabama A & M's Joe Martin recorded his ninth double-double of the season with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

Alabama A & M's Obie Trotter connected on five three-pointers, which ties for the most threes in an Opening Round game, and ties the UD Arena NCAA Tournament record, accomplished twice previously.

With three steals, Obie Trotter continues to lead the nation in steals at 4.09 per game. His total of 131 steals this season of is the 7th-highest single-season total in NCAA history.

Trotter reached the 20-point mark for the fifth time this season.

Oakland improves to 12-2 this season when finishing with a better field goal percentage than its opponent. The Golden Grizzlies shot 50.9% for the game, compared to 39.0% for Alabama A & M.

Oakland won the rebounding battle with a 43-29 edge on the glass. The Grizzlies improve to 8-5 when out-rebounding an opponent.

Oakland held a 42-18 edge in points in the paint.

The first half featured eight lead changes, while Oakland never trailed in the second half.

The attendance of 8,254 is the second-highest attendance for an Opening Round Game, just 427 shy of the previous record. In 2002, 8,681 fans filled UD Arena to see Siena top Alcorn State 81-77. The average attendance of the nine Opening Round Games in Dayton is 7,720.

The game was the 66th NCAA Tournament game played in University of Dayton Arena. UD Arena is the fourth-most prolific venue for NCAA Tournament games, trailing only Memorial Auditorium in Kansas City, Salt Lake City's Huntsman Center and Madison Square Garden in New York.

Oakland

POSTGAME QUOTES

Oakland senior guard Rawle Marshall

"North Carolina's going to be a great challenge for us. All we want to do is just go in there and play as hard as we can and whatever happens, happens."

(On playing point guard tonight)
That's something coach had experimented with all season. Coach was confident in me in this game. I was able to make things happen. But it was a credit to my teammates. They opened up the game for me. Guys like Cortney Scott and Brandon. They made it real easy for me. You have to respect them. I just made a couple of plays and we ended up winning the ball game."

(On runs against Alabama) "It felt great. We went into a lot of hostile environments and we've seen that done to us and for us to do that to another team especially a good team it felt great. We had a lot of confidence going. We couldn't miss a shot and we dominated from there."

(On playing North Carolina next in Charlotte) "That's going to be a totally different atmosphere. But it's an atmosphere we've seen already. At Charlotte, they're basically at home. We've played in a lot of tough places. We'll do what it takes. They are going to have runs. It's going to be a tough environment in Charlotte. If we can take Carolina in the chest we can bounce back."

"I wouldn't say this was a home game, but our fan base was our sixth man today. They were just great."

"We did something not too many colleges have done. Not too many colleges can say they had a win at the NCAA tournament. We're going to ride this momentum and see where this takes us."

Oakland senior forward Cortney Scott

"For me it's an honor to get a chance to play against some of the number one players in the nation. It's a measure of your skills and your talent. It's going to be a lot of fun."

"For me McCloskey's not considered a freshman anymore. He's playing big time minutes. I told him at halftime, `we need you to step up tonight, and play like we know you can play.' He's a solid player and a strong player."

(On adversity) "Yeah we had a lot of adversity but my teammates stayed strong. Team captains told the guys tough times don't last. You can credit coach Kampe for that quote. We stayed positive. Coach tried to stay positive with us and we all tried to stay positive on the floor."

"We don't have our fan base to come down to Charlotte like we had here." "We had bad spurts but it was good to see the support."

"I think it was a great opportunity for us to get on the floor and run some more. The first 15 minutes were tough. They were a great opponent to play."

Oakland Guard Brandon Cassise

"For me I still feel like a little kid out here with these guys. It's like a dream come true almost. It's kind of surreal. I can't believe it is all happening."

"We had a whole lot of adversity from last season. I think for the most part it brought us together. Maybe that's why we're playing so well especially in those do-or-die games. I think it helped us out."

"This is an opportunity to do something for the University that others have never done."

Oakland Head Coach Greg Kampe

"I would just like to say how proud Oakland University is to be able to represent The state of Michigan in this tournament, how proud we are that we were able to play and compete the way we did, how proud I am of my players. I thought they played just an outstanding basketball game. That's a good team we beat. I'm telling you that's a good team."

"That type of quickness on the floor is as quick as I've seen all year. It took us awhile to play against that quickness. The pace was way too fast early. A credit to our kids they learned from the first 10 minutes, figured it out. I thought we controlled the tempo the rest of the game."

"The kids really like each other now. They're a great group of kids to coach. We're just very fortunate."

(At halftime) "I told them to forget about that shot. They were devastated by that shot. You only have to be one point ahead when it's over. The first five minutes were important and I thought our crowd would keep us in the game. The key play was when we went into the box-and-one."

"We were picked to win everything last year. We had a bad year. We thought this year would be our transition year and to get back to things the way they were before."

"Don't let anyone tell you this isn't a good game. This is the greatest experience for our kids we've ever had. Don't change this. This is wonderful. We wanted to be in this and this is everything we wanted. Somebody else will be in our shoes. What you've done for us you can't measure. Keep doing this. You're doing it for the kids. You made the lives of 15 kids tonight."

Alabama A&M Post Game Quotes

Opening Statement From L. Vann Pettaway

"Oakland came in with a great game plan. They did what they tried to do all season. They wanted to get the ball to Marshall and Scott. You have to give them credit. They were well coached and well prepared for us. They knew all of our offensive sets and each defensive schemes were threw at them. "

"We just ran out of gas. We were not the same team that played in our conference tournament."

"I love that that we are here in Dayton. My only wish is that we had one more day to get our legs back."

"I am proud of our players. We fought to the end, but the better team won tonight."

"I enjoyed my time here in Dayton so much. Trust me, we will be back."

Alabama A & M junior forward Joe Martin

"We came out flat. We just had no energy tonight. Just like several time this year we got behind and fought our way back. However tonight we couldn't fight our way back to a win."

"It was a great experience tonight. There was tons of fans. It was great for our school as well. It was historic because we did something that no one else at A & M had done. However, we are not happy with [losing]. We will work hard and get back (to the tourney.)"

Alabama A & M junior guard Obie Trotter

"It was a good experience for us. We were never in this position before and didn't know how to adapt. Now we will grow from this."

Alabama A & M Head Coach L. Vann Pettaway

"I was a great opportunity for our program to learn but this should motivate us. We should be motivated in the off season to work hard so that we have a better record in the regular season and not be in this position again."

"All I wanted was some rest but that's not how the system is set up. Our conference needs to take a look at that. [The Southestern Athletic Conference] needs to be ready for this game and make sure our teams can play well if we are sent here. The number of games were have played in a short amount of time is tough on these young men. I didn't even play and I am exhausted."

"It's hard to go to an all night dance when you have been working all day. When you have been working the graveyard shift for three days and then go to an all night dance, you get there and your legs just don't move."

"The City of Dayton and University of Dayton did a great job with this game. Everything was in place and ready for us all week. We had great hospitality and we appreciate everything that the fans, UD and the City of Dayton did for us over the past few days."

On Dealing With His Cancer

"I will see my doctor tomorrow. I need to attack this the same way I do any other opponent. I need to take some time and get over it beginning with tomorrow."

On Players Hugging Following the National Anthem

"We are competitors on the floor, but are friendly rivals. We are familiar with Oakland. They are a class program and we have a lot in common with them. We both came up from Division II. It's just a shame that we had to play each other in this game."

On the Play of His Team in the Second Half

"They didn't give up. We just hurt ourselves with that 16-2 run in the second half."

"There were plenty of times that we were on defense and we could see what was happening, but our legs just wouldn't move."