Nick Towsend Stanford Cardinal forward (42) takes a shot against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies forward Belal El Shakery (24) at Maples Pavilion in :Palo Alto on Fri Nov 6, 2026 (Stanford Cardinal photo)
By Michael Roberson
STANFORD, Calif. — Behind Senior forward Nick Townsend’s 25 points, the Stanford Cardinal (2-0) handled the Oakland Golden Grizzlies (0-2) 81-63 on the home court of Maples Pavilion Friday night.
Stanford got on the scoreboard first on a basket by senior forward/center Aidan Cammann. However, that immediate lead was combated by the Golden Grizzlies, on a three point shot. Early in the first half was a competitive battle.
Oakland managed to lead by as many as four points, a little more than five minutes into the game. The Cardinal led by as many as ten points from their strategic side of things. There were three ties and four lead changes during the initial 20 minutes of play.
Both teams made runs of significant amounts of points and shot similar percentages from the three main positions on the floor. Stanford shot 42% from the field, 27% from beyond the arc, and a perfect 100% from the charity stripe. Oakland presented 40%, 25%, & also 100% from their respective categories.
One player from each team was able to score at least ten points at recess. Stanford’s Townsend had an impressive line of 11 points, six rebounds and four assists. Oakland’s senior forward Chris Fields Jr. tallied ten points for his Michigan based school.
At the half, Stanford led by five points, 38-33. The game could have gone either way at that juncture of the game, as the Midwest Golden Grizzlies were on a mission on the West Coast in the state known for Golden Bears.
The second half started off with Oaklnd scoring first, and lowering their deficit to three points right away. Stanford did respond rapidly, but Oakland kept fighting, at least early in the stanza. The Golden Grizzlies committed self-inflicting wounds down the stretch of the game.
The visiting squad, who was perfect from the free throw line (7-7) in the first half, missed nine (16-25) in the second half. Although that amount only accounts for half of their final deficit, the timing of the misses were not indicative of the final score.
One instance was when William Kassi was fouled on a made basket at the 17:33 mark. They were down by one point (40-39) with a chance to tie the game for the fourth time. Unfortunately for the Golden Grizzlies, he missed the free throw. They would never get that close again.
About ten minutes later, he was in another ignominious scenario. Stanford’s promotion with a local franchise restaurant, which gives free hamburgers to the fans if the visiting team misses two consecutive free throws. Kassi made the crowd very happy, as he stepped to the line again, and missed both free throw attempts.
Stanford later opened the lead up to 18 points seconds before the final buzzer sounded. The final 18-point score was 81-63. The Maples faithfull were happy for two reasons, a victory and hamburgers for all the fans.
Three players for Stanford reached or eclipsed double digits, The aforementioned Townsend scored 25 points, grabbed eight rebounds, dished out four assists.and snatched four steals. Christian Bliss scored 17 points and also grabbed eight rebounds. Aidan Cammann offered 13 points to the Cardinal.
Oakland presented two hoopers previous criteria, Chris Fields Jr. put up 23 points and six rebounds, while William Kassi gave his team 11 points and six rebounds, in addition to thousands of hamburgers for the patrons inside of Maples.
The Cardinal will next be in action on Monday, November 9, as they host the Rice Owls at 7 PM PT on the ACCNX. The Golden Grizzlies will be heading to Southern California, Saturday November 7, as they take on UC Santa Barbara at I PM PT on ESPN+
