Purdue Fort Wayne basketball has come a long way since it played Oakland in December.

Back then, the Golden Grizzlies raced to a 15-point lead and held the Mastodons at arm’s length down the stretch for a relatively drama-free win.

Wednesday night’s rematch at the Gates Center had plenty of drama, with the lead changing hands 12 times, the last with less than five minutes to play. The result at the end was the same, however, as PFW saw its five-game winning streak come to an end with a 74-65 loss despite 22 points, six rebounds and six assists from Corey Hadnot II.

The victory propelled Oakland (13-10, 9-3 Horizon League) into a share of first place with Wright State (8-2 in league play) while PFW (13-9, 7-4) slipped into a tie for third.

“They’ve grown a ton,” PFW coach Jon Coffman said of his team. “I’m really proud of them. We’ve got some guys where you feel the pride and the purpose growing in our organization.

“It takes grit to win in the Horizon League. … We got a little bit of grit. We didn’t get it done, but those guys have a lot of respect for Oakland and we’re gonna go to work tomorrow.”

Maximus Nelson had 15 points on 5-for-12 3-point shooting for the Mastodons. Fort Wayne native Mikale Stevenson had seven points, five assists and four rebounds.

The teams seesawed back and forth much of the night, playing within a 5-point window for the first 15 minutes of the second half. Twice in that stretch the Mastodons took the lead and twice the visitors responded with a strong run.

PFW went in front for the first time in the half at 47-46 when Ebrahim Kaba got lost on the baseline behind the Oakland zone defense and DeAndre Craig Jr. whipped a pass to him from the backcourt for an easy layup.

Oakland, led by 42nd-year coach Greg Kampe, answered with a 7-2 run during which PFW missed a series of excellent looks from inside and outside. Stevenson had a couple of shots right at the rim but couldn’t finish.

The Mastodons shot just 34.8%. 

“When we drive, they like to collapse the paint a lot, so it’s hard to kick it out to shooters or go up for a layup when you have three people on you,” Hadnot said. “It’s just being stronger with the ball.”

Down 53-49, PFW clawed its way back in front behind Hadnot, who rifled a pass to Darius Duffy down low for a basket, grabbed an offensive rebound and finished in acrobatic fashion in the lane with his right to hand and then put the Mastodons on top at 59-58 with a 3 coming off a downscreen at the 5:17 mark.

In the crucial moment, however, Oakland’s Tuburu Naivalurua, the preseason player of the year in the conference, made the biggest plays, scoring three times in a row with a pair of rim-shaking dunks and then a nice move in the lane for a 6-0 run that swung the game.

“It was all game, they pounded the post,” Nelson said. “That’s just Oakland’s style of play. We didn’t execute down low and we let them get to where they wanted to be. That’s how they got their easy buckets.”

The Grizzlies had a 36-20 edge on points in the paint despite Deangelo Elisee collecting four blocks in 12 minutes for PFW. 

Naivalurua had 13 points on 6-for-10 shooting.

PFW led by as many as seven in the first half after a 6-for-12 start from beyond the arc. The Mastodons missed 11 of their next 12 3s, however, and went into the half down 40-38.

Coffman’s team was 13 of 40 from deep.

“Got great 3s with our process,” the PFW coach said. “We gotta be able to knock those things down. We weren’t as efficient as we’d like to.”

PFW will have a chance to rebound with another home game Saturday against Robert Morris (14-9, 6-6), which has won three of its last four.

“This loss doesn’t define us as a team,” Hadnot said. “It’s just a learning lesson. We got plenty more basketball to play. I’m really confident in where we stand as a team.”