INDIANAPOLIS — Trey Townsend scored a career-high 38 points and made a series of key plays down the stretch as Oakland clinched its first NCAA Tournament since 2011 with an 83-76 victory over Milwaukee in the game. Horizon League championship on Tuesday night.
Townsend scored 27 points in the second half, 16 in the final six minutes and 7 in the final three minutes. His 38 points were the most in a Horizon League tournament championship game since at least 1996.
Townsend's jumper with 2:35 left gave the top-ranked Grizzlies a 72-70 lead. He then intercepted a pass and followed his own miss with a layup for a 74-70 lead with two minutes left.
Blake Lampman made two free throws at the 1:03 mark to give Oakland an 80-74 lead until the final minute when Chris Conway blocked two Panthers shots and Townsend threw a fumble to a teammate.
Townsend ended up at the foul line and made one with 35.9 seconds left for an 81-74 lead, matching the biggest of the game. He then added two more free throws, finishing 14 of 18 from the line. He also contributed 11 rebounds and 5 assists.
Townsend became the second player in the last 25 seasons to score 35 or more points, record 10 or more rebounds and play 40 or more minutes in a conference championship game, joining Kevin Durant (2007 Big 12 championship game for Texas vs. Kansas).
Jack Gohlke scored 15 points for the Golden Grizzlies (23-11), who are headed to their fourth NCAA Tournament, the first three coming when they were in the Summit League. Lampman scored 12 points and Conway 11 with 10 rebounds, to join Townsend, who had 11 rebounds, with a double-double.
Erik Pratt led sixth-seeded Milwaukee (20-15) with 16 points. Kentrell Pullian added 15 points, BJ Freeman 15 and Langston Wilson 10. The Panthers were trying to reach their fifth NCAA tournament, their first since 2014.
Lampman and Townsend each made a pair of free throws that gave Oakland its largest lead of the game at 49-42 less than five minutes into the second half, but Pullian scored two quick baskets inside. After Townsend scored, the Panthers had six in a row and Pullian gave them a 52-51 lead with 13:14 left.
The lead reached four for the Panthers at 64-60, but it lasted 23 seconds.
Lampman had a fastbreak dunk and Gohlke hit a 3-pointer in a late 7-0 run that helped the Grizzlies take a 37-33 lead into the half. The largest lead of the half was 17-11 for Oakland on a three-pointer by Gohlke in the seventh minute.
ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
