INDIANAPOLIS -- Trey Townsend scored a career-high 38 points and made a number of key plays down the stretch as Oakland earned its first NCAA tournament bid since 2011 with an 83-76 win over Milwaukee in the Horizon League championship game on Tuesday night.
Townsend had 27 points in the second half, 16 in the last six minutes and 7 in the last three minutes. His 38 points were the most in a Horizon League tournament championship game since at least 1996.
Townsend's turnaround jumper with 2:35 left gave the top-seed Grizzlies a 72-70 lead.