Locking horns with Oakland’s potent offense and the nation’s second-leading scorer (Kendrick Nunn), the Vikings played extraordinary defense down the stretch. They held Oakland to just 43 total points, and got two late stops to seal the win.
Guard Kenny Carpenter scored 16 points for the Vikings. Freshman standout Tyree Applebee scored 8 to go along with 7 rebounds and 6 assists. The Vikings point total, 44, was less than half of what they scored Saturday (89) to defeat #1 seed Northern Kentucky in a second-round shocker.
First-year coach Dennis Felton is atoning for an atrocious (11-22) first season with the Vikings. If the team is victorious Tuesday, they’ll win an automatic bid to the NCAA Men’s Tournament later this month.
Oakland University is located in Rochester, Michigan, about 30 miles north of Detroit. It counts former Cavalier Kay Felder among its distinguished alumni.
This article appears in Feb 28 – Mar 6, 2018.
The conference title game airs on ESPN at 7 pm.