Indianapolis — Oakland's waited a long time for this moment.
And when the final seconds ticked off the clock, Trey Townsend clutching the ball and his teammates starting to dance around him, it was even sweeter than Oakland coach Greg Kampe remembered.
Kampe's known for his talking, not so much for his crying. But he was in tears late Tuesday night, as his Golden Grizzlies earned a trip back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011.
Oakland beat Milwaukee, 83-76 in a thriller of a Horizon League championship game before a small but raucous crowd that was decidedly pro-Oakland at Indiana Farmers Coliseum. Oakland will learn its NCAA Tournament opponent and destination on Selection Sunday.
"My whole focus for the whole year was to get here and get these kids here," Kampe said as the celebration continued at center court behind him, the players wasting little time to change into their championship T-shirts and hats.
"I haven't been to sleep since we got here. I've probably gone through 12 5-Hour Energies, maybe I'm a little bit jacked up on caffeine right now because of that. But it just hit me. When the confetti came down, it hit me, man.
"I just can't tell you," Kampe continued, as he began to choke up, "how happy I am."
Townsend, the Horizon League player or the year, had the best game of his career, pouring in a career-best 38 points to go with 11 rebounds — and he flat-out put the team on his back in the second half, when his teammates needed him the most.
Townsend scored almost all of Oakland's points in the final 10 minutes of the game, perhaps none bigger than a bucket-and-one with 4 minutes, 43 seconds left. The bucket, set up on the other end by a strip and steal by senior guard Blake Lampman, made it 65-64, and Townsend let out a roaring scream when the ball went in, bringing the bench to its feet.
He made the free throw to make it 66-64.
A bucket by Milwaukee's Kentrell Pullian on the other end tied it up, but Townsend answered right back with a floater, taking advantage of rare single-coverage.
B.J. Freeman made a 3 from the corner, bouncing high off the rim and in, to tie it at 70, but there was Townsend again, with an answer, on a jump hook to make it 72-70. He then had a steal on the other end, came down, put up a missed shot, got his own rebound and put up another — and Milwaukee was called for goaltending. That made it 74-70.
When Townsend finally did miss a bucket, there was fellow senior forward Chris Conway there with the putback to make it 76-72 with 1:20 left, and it was, finally, smooth sailing from there.
Townsend got a block on the last defensive possession, scooping up the ball and cradling it as the Oakland bench and crowd began to celebrate the program's first Horizon League championship.
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it," Townsend said, a piece of the cut-down nets draped around his neck.
Foul trouble for Milwaukee big man Faizon Fields, who eventually fouled out, certainly helped.
"I just kept going to what was working, and it worked out. It just happened to be my day today. It feels amazing."
Oakland (23-11) won the Horizon League regular-season championship for the first time, but the goal all along was to get to the NCAA Tournament. Kampe frankly said anything less and the season would be considered a "failure."
That was the goal even though Oakland, in the preseason poll, was picked to finish sixth. It didn't take long into the season, as Oakland went toe-to-toe with several Big Ten powerhouses and then won at Xavier, that the preseason projects were short.
Oakland is heading to the Division I NCAA Tournament for the fourth time (2005, 2010, 2011), but the first time since joining the Horizon League in 2014. The Golden Grizzlies won three thrillers, against Purdue Fort Wayne, Cleveland State and Milwaukee, to do it.
Oakland beat Milwaukee (20-15) for the third time this season, and all three games were super tight.
"You look at who we beat," said Lampman, who had 12 points, five rebounds, four blocks and two steals. "We're resilient. Resilient. Then we gave it to our guy, Trey T. He was unbelievable."
Townsend was named tournament MVP, and was serenaded with "M-V-P" chants from teammates as he cut down his own piece of the net, his parents, former Oakland basketball players Skip and Nicole looking on and smiling.
Senior guard Jack Gohlke, who also made the all-tournament team, added 15 points, all on 3's, and two steals for Oakland, and Conway had 10 rebounds and three blocks — playing a huge presence on defense throughout the Horizon League tournament.
For Milwaukee, Erik Pratt had 16 points, Pulian had 15 and Freeman had 14.
Oakland, which led, 37-33, at halftime, becomes the first mid-major team from Michigan to make the men's NCAA Tournament since Western Michigan in 2014. It's the first team from Michigan to clinch a berth this year; Michigan State should join Oakland on Sunday. Oakland figures to be a 13 or 14 seed.
"Dream come true," said Gohlke, "that's what you play the game for."
The Horizon League has been a source of many headaches over the years for Oakland, including for this senior class, which lost to Cleveland State in the 2021 championship game. But on Tuesday night, the demons finally were exorcised, despite Oakland playing short-handed again, without senior guard Rocket Watts and sophomore forward Isaiah Jones, both out with ankle injuries.
Watts, who played in the NCAA Tournament for Michigan State in 2021, still was right there in the middle of the celebration, holding the Horizon League championship trophy.
Also in the celebration was Oakland athletic director Steve Waterfield and president Ora Hirsch Pescovitz, who humorously took pleas from Oakland students who made the trip — Oakland bussed in about 50 students for the championship game — to cancel classes on Wednesday.
"If you could've been on the stage and seen the tears on these kids' faces and how happy they are, they just love each other," Kampe, in his 40th season at Oakland, said, shaking as he spoke.
"You have no clue how hard it is to do what we just did. We went about our business, and look where we are.
"I'm speechless, and you know for me to be speechless, that's special."
