GAME NOTES: The Oakland Golden Grizzlies are making their fourth appearance in the CollegeInsoder.com Tournament and will be hosting the Eastern Illinois Panthers in the first round on Tuesday.

These programs have no previous history on the hardwood, but Oakland has been become very familiar with an event that started in 2009.

Athletics Center O'rena has hosted a CIT game four times, and the Grizzlies have won all four, the last coming in 2012 when they reached the semifinals.

Oakland began the season with a 5-12 record against quality opponents, and the tough schedule helped the Grizzlies when Horizon League action began. They went 11-5 in conference play and were favorites against Illinois-Chicago in the quarterfinals of the league tournament.

The Grizzlies led most of the way but wound up on the losing end of a 72-69 decision. It was just the second time all season they lost when taking a lead into halftime.

Kahlil Felder did his part once again with a 21-point effort, just as the sophomore guard has done all season long. A member of the All-Horizon First Team, Felder led Oakland in scoring (17.5 ppg) and topped everyone in the conference in assists (7.5 apg) and steals (2.0 spg). He is the only player in the country to average at least 17 points and seven assists per game.

Corey Petros has also regularly filled the box score, putting up a line of 14.3 ppg with a conference-best 8.4 rpg. Dante Williams is logging 9.8 ppg for a team that led the Horizon League with 73.7 ppg.

EIU posted its second winning season since 2001 and will be playing its first postseason game since that year. The program has never won a postseason game, losing both of its appearances in the NCAA Tournament in 1992 and 2001.

The Panthers saw their hopes of returning to the Big Dance thwarted when they were dominated by Belmont in the quarterfinals of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. Belmont, which went on to win the tourney, shot a staggering 61.0 percent from the field and made 16 3-pointers en route to a 97-64 drubbing.

Defense had been the Panthers' calling card all season long, as it finished second in conference in points against (63.3 ppg) and first in field-goal percentage defense (.410). Offense was much tougher to come by, as they finished second-to-last in the conference in scoring (62.3 ppg).

Chris Oliver and Trae Anderson are tied for the team lead in scoring at 13.1 ppg. Oliver was limited to four points against Belmont but has usually been an efficient scorer down low, hitting 54.6 percent of his shots and pulling down a team-best 5.4 rpg. Cornell Johnston is averaging 9.2 ppg thanks to a 53.0 percent shooting clip from behind the arc.

The Panthers have not played in nearly two weeks. On top of that, Oakland has posted a gaudy 12-3 record at home and has more than enough firepower to solve EIU's defensive schemes.