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December 2009
Raiders tired for a reason, and not happy about it.
CHICAGO — Wright State’s basketball players might be a little more tired Friday morning, but not because they stayed up so late on New Year’s Eve.
It’s because after three straight victories during which they were hardly contested, the Raiders moved back into Horizon League play late this afternoon and had a tough time against Loyola of Chicago.
So tough, they actually lost, 53-52, when Ronnie Thomas’ 3-point shot at the buzzer hit the rim and bounced off.
It was WSU’s first loss in league play after two straight victories.
Vaughn Duggins led the Raiders with 13 points and Troy Tabler added 10 as the Raiders went to 9-5 overall.
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Conference time is best time of year for college basket ball fans
CHICAGO — Other than the cold and snow flurries, this is the best time of year for a college basketball fan.
You can actually recognize some of the teams your favorite team is playing. It’s conference time, and today Wright State plays at Loyola of Chicago. Saturday, the Raiders are at Illinois-Chicago.
Those may not seem like big names to you — and when the Raiders played out in Seattle, few knew who WSU was. If the Raiders keep playing the way they have the last week, the folks out west will know soon enough.
But college basketball junks up its non-conference schedule with miss-matches. I laughed this morning when North Carolina drubbed Albany. Good for the Tar Heels.
In the Horizon League, Loyola has played a couple of NAIA schools. So has just about everybody else. Wright State considered it, but stayed with exhibitions for schools that aren’t under the Division I banner.
Now, it’s all league play, except for the BracketBusters promotion that comes up in late February.
You’ve got teams that are similar to each other, that are in the same division. It’s better than way.
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A quiet New Year’s Eve
FAIRBORN — The Raiders expect to have a short practice early Wednesday morning, then board the team bus for Chicago and games Thursday afternoon at Loyola of Chicago and Saturday afternoon at Illinois-Chicago.
Both games begin at 4 p.m., which is 3 p.m. Chicago time.
That leaves plenty of time Thursday to celebrate the new year.
Don’t expect revelry, even if the Raiders win.
“New Year’s Eve for us, they’ll be in their room,” WSU coach Brad Brownell said of his players. “If they watch the (midnight) ball drop, that’s great. If they watch a movie, that’s great.
“If they’re asleep, that’s great, too. We’ll see what happens. if we win (Thursday), we might go out for a nice dinner. I let the kids determine a lot of that. Maybe they’ll just want to eat at the hotel.”
And that’s the extent of the celebrating?
“Kids aren’t into that as much as you think they are,” Brownell said. “They’ve got too uch stuff going on. They’re not on a sightseeing trip. They want to take a nap and ice down their knees.”
New Year’s Day, the Raiders will relax, have a practice at UIC’s facility, then return to the hotel for a meeting and to watch some football on television — if they’re interested.
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Close to a perfect game
FAIRBORN — There is no perfect game, coaches will tell you, but there can be near-perfection if Monday night at the Nutter Center is any indication.
Wright State played a game that had nothing to do with the Horizon League, nothing to do with a big rivalry, nothing to do with a big-name, top-ranked team.
However, Wright State did play a very good team, a team that came in with an 8-3 record and a victory over Auburn and a 10-point loss at Kentucky — 102-92, by the way. Sam Houston State scored 92 points on one of the top 10 teams in the country.
But Sam Houston State couldn’t score 92, or 82 or 72 against Wright State on Monday. Sam Houston State was beaten 88-48 by Wright State and WSU coach Brad Brownell admitted he was pleased and delighted his team did about everything on offense and defense it could do.
The Raiders held a team used to shooting about 50 percent to a 28.8 percent average.
The Raiders shot a season-high 57.1 percent from the field and made a team record 15 from 3-point range — on just 25 tries.
The Raiders out-rebounded Sam Houston 37-33, with guard Todd Brown grabbing seven and reserve forward Cooper Land five (all on the defensive side).
Best of all, John David Gardner returned to the team, playing in a game for the first time since last Feb. 5, when he was finished for the season with a bad hip.
Gardner, who has had two hip surgeries since, played 20 minutes against Sam Houston State and didn’t miss a shot from the field (4-for-4, including two 3-pointers) or the line (2-for-2). He played defense and directed the offense.
And N’Gai Evans, who began the season as the starting point guard, was back in the lineup after missing three games with a strained knee and playing in a reserve role in the last game.
He started against the Bearkats, responding with 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting even after he thought he hurt his knee again during the first two minutes of play. He quickly returned and now it’s back to Horizon League play, where the Raiders are already 2-0.
Gardner was asked if his team could play a better game. He said he and his teammates would certainly try.
It wouldn’t be perfect, of course, but it wouldn’t have to be.
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Everything goes well for Raiders
FAIRBORN — N’Gai Evans returned to the starting lineup, John David Gardner to the active roster and that wasn’t even the best part of tonight’s game against Sam Houston State.
The Raiders beat the high-scoring Bearkats 88-48, holding a team that was shooting nearly 50 percent on the season to under 30 percent. Sam Houston State was also averaging nearly 84 points a game but could only score about half that.
It was the most points the Raiders scored this season to improve their record to 9-4. Sam Houston State is 8-4.
Meanwhile, Evans — who strained his right knee at Toledo on Dec. 8, after which he missed three games and played sparingly in one — made all four of his baskets in the first half and finished with 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including 4-of-5 from the 3-point line.
Gardner, who missed the last 10 games last season with a hip injury that was surgically repaired — then repaired again just before this season began — made his debut and showed what he can add to the team.
Gardner not only made all four of his shots and finished with 12 points, he had four assists and two steals in 20 minutes of play.
While holding Sam Houston State to just 28.8 shooting, the Raiders shot a season-best 57.1 percent. They were even better from the 3-point line, making 15 of 25 for 60 percent.
It was 13 months ago the Raiders began this two-game series in Texas, and emerged with an 84-65 loss in a game they were out of by halftime.
The payback was more one-sided.
Thursday, the Raiders re-start Horizon League play at Chicago against Loyola beginning at 4 p.m.
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Ready to play again
FAIRBORN — Of course Wright State coach Brad Brownell watched some film on Christmas Day.
“About three hours,” he said. “But I didn’t watch any on the 24th.”
Well, good for him. After his team beat Arkansas-Little Rock last Tuesday for the Raiders’ second straight victory, Brownell didn’t want anything to get in the way of a much longer winning streak while most of the players were thinking something else.
“It’s Christmas,” said junior guard Troy Tabler, who was asked if he’d rather keep playing while the team was in a good groove or just have a few days off.
So the team had Wednesday and Thursday off and were to return late Friday afternoon to campus.
All of them made it, although some flight delays caused Cooper Land (Texas), Cory Cooperwood (Arkansas) and Paul Darkwa (California) to arrive a little later than expected.
Darkwa wasn’t supposed to go home, but his family came up with a late airline ticket, so he went.
Friday night, the team had dinner at a local restaurant. Saturday and Sunday, they had full practices.
Monday night, we’ll find out if a few days off had any effect.
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Raiders beat a good team
FAIRBORN — That wasn’t a school Wright State beat Tuesday night trying to make a name for itself in basketball.
It wasn’t a Maryland-Eastern Shore, a team WSU beat soundly on Saturday, that came to the Nutter Center for a pile of money, or a Presbyterian, which went to UD for an even higher pile of money.
It was Arkansas-Little Rock, a team that had won 20 or more games two years in a row and the Sun Belt Conference four of the previous six seasons.
The series came about because WSU’s Cory Cooperwood is a native of a little town near Little Rock, and coach Brad Brownell tries to play at least one game near where his players are from.
The home-and-home series began last year at Little Rock, Cooperwood had a big game and the Raiders won, beating a team that eventually finished 23-8.
This season, the Trojans are having more of a problem, losing four starters to graduation and another starter recently to injury.
But last week, UALR lost to Memphis by only 12, so there is some talent on the team. Yet WSU beat the Trojans 69-47, starting off 17-0.
Following a short holiday break, the Raiders will entertain Sam Houston State on Monday, another team with a low profile but very good players. Sam Houston drubbed the Raiders in their little hamlet near Houston last season, and have a fine 8-3 record so far this season.
That series was built for Cooper Land, a WSU junior who is from Texas. Sam Houston State is no Maryland-Eastern Shore or Presbyterian, either.
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Clamp-down defense boosts Raiders
FAIRBORN — For the second straight game, Wright State won big Tuesday night, but even the Raiders might have been surprised at how well they played defense at the start.
The University of Arkansas-Little Rock failed to score for the first 7:45 and didn’t record a basket until 9:37 had been played as WSU beat the Trojans 69-47 at the Nutter Center.
On Saturday, WSU beat Maryland-Eastern Shore 87-46.
While Little Rock was going scoreless, the Raiders put up 17 straight points and led by as many as 22 in the first half as the Trojans committed 15 turnovers.
Troy Tabler, who has become a scoring force, scored 16 — all in the first half. He scored 20 or more in three of his previous five games.
Monday, the Raiders finish the non-conference part of their schedule (except for the late-February BracketBusters game) with Sam Houston State. The rest of the Horizon League schedule (the Raiders are already 2-0 in league play) begins New Year’s Eve in Chicago against Loyola.
Little Rock was coming off two straight 20-win seasons and had won the Sun Belt Conference title in four of the previous six years. Even though the Trojans came in with a 4-8 record and had lost three straight, one of those losses was in their home city to national power Memphis. Little Rock lost that one 83-71 on Dec. 12.
N’Gai Evans, WSU’s starting point guard until he was hurt in the second half of the Toledo game on Dec. 8, played for the first time since then, coming off the bench to score eight points. He made four of his shots.
The Raiders expect to get another boost on Monday when another point guard, senior John David Gardner, is supposed to suit up for the first time this season following hip surgery.
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Familiar faces for Raiders
FAIRBORN — Two teams that helped define Wright State’s previous season will both play at the Nutter Center during the next week.
First, on Tuesday, Arkansas-Little Rock visits for a 7 p.m. game, lugging a 4-5 record and three-game losing streak.
Then, next Monday, Sam Houston State comes calling, also at 7.
Maybe the UALR Trojans were a little aggressive with their scheduling, coming off two straight 20-win seasons (23-8 last year) and returning only one starter. On most strength-of-schedule boards, UALR’s schedule ranks among the top 20 in the nation and the Trojans have already played at Mississippi and Tulsa, Creighton and South Alabama and against Memphis.
It doesn’t matter. Wright State will always have a fondness for UALR becaue it was a game that helped turn around a season. Remember, the Raiders opened 0-6 and had already lost their best player, Vaughn Duggins, to injury.
Finally, the team beat Toledo, then went into Little Rock with a puny 1-6 record. The Raiders won, 62-55, behind a big game by Arkansas native Cory Cooperwood and a game-sealing slam dunk by the since graduated Gavin Horne. The Raiders won 11 of their next 13 games and finished the season 20-13.
You could also make a case than Sam Houston State helped turn the Raiders in the right direction, although that game may have represented their worst play of the season in an 84-65 loss.
“That was a good team that just blew us out,” WSU coach Brad Brownell said. “We had the injury to Vaughn (he played in that game with his hand taped, but it was his last game of the season) and we began to think a little bit about how to play the rest of the season.
“We slowed the tempo and even though we lost the next two games at Green Bay and Milwaukee, we thought we knew how we were going to win and how this was going to turn out.”
It turned out well. And now two major opponents in that turnaround are here to face the Raiders again.
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Raiders make easy work of Maryland-Eastern Shore
FAIRBORN — Despite an early flurry of missed baskets — and actually falling behind a couple of times in the first six minutes — Wright State easily defeated Maryland-Eastern Shore at the Nutter Center tonight.
In fact, the Raiders produced their biggest winning margin in coach Brad Brownell’s four seasons, beating the Hawks 87-46.
Every one of the Raiders who played scored, and they all did except for starting point guard N’Gai Evans, who sat out a second straight game with a strained right MCL. He dressed, and could have played if needed, but he wasn’t.
The game also allowed the Raiders to use their three freshmen more, and they all came through with their biggest scoring games. Tyler Koch scored nine while Darian Cartharn and Paul Darkwa each scored five.
Todd Brown, Cooper Land and Scott Grote each scored in double figures for the Raiders with 16, 14 and 11 points.
Oddly, UMES took the early lead on a Kevin White basket and led 9-7 on a Tyler Hines basket with about 14 minutes to play in the first half.
From that point on, however, it was mostly Wright State, which broke a two-game losing streak to improve its record to 7-4. UMES is 3-6.
Wright State took a lead it would not relinquish the rest of the way on a Darian Cartharn 3-point basket that made it 10-9. Wright State went on to lead 42-20 at the half and held the Hawks scoreless for almost the first six minutes of the second half while moving to a 56-20 lead.
In Brownell’s three previous seasons, the most he had ever beaten an opponent was by 26. He did it three times, the last time last season in a game against Illinois-Chicago.
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Raiders prove they can play with quality teams
FAIRBORN — With so many other major civil rights events that happened in the 1960s, it is easy to overlook what happened in Starkville, Miss., where the Wright State Raiders played Wednesday night.
None of the Raiders knew the story, and probably their parents don’t remember much of it either.
But at least for a few days, what could have been an ugly situation turned into a measure of competition for a team that wanted to see if it was good enough to play elsewhere, or just good enough to play at home.
That’s somewhat what the Raiders were doing as well when coach Brad Brownell scheduled Mississippi State, one of the top teams in the SEC.
Thankfully, we’re well past where individual rights are part of the equation so the Raiders made it look like this was a good game because it was on national television via ESPN2.
But they also wanted to find out how good they were, and they were a little short, 80-69, although that’s not a bad score when you consider point guard N’Gai Evans was out with a sore knee and the Raiders weren’t going to get this on a neutral or home court.
Remember also, Mississippi State recruits against Kentucky and LSU and Tennessee and those folks. Wright State is in the Horizon League, and once you get past Butler, lots of folks in other basketball cities don’t know the Horizon League from the dewpoint.
While the Raiders found out they couldn’t stop all MSU’s weapons, they also found out they could play with a quality team. At one point in the second half, the Bulldogs held a 17-point lead, but were never able to coast. They shot 63 percent, too, which means they were on top of their game and not only because WSU’s defense couldn’t stop them.
Forty-six years ago, it was Mississippi State that wanted to know how it could compete elsewhere.
In one of the last states to desegregate, the Bulldogs turned down three invitations to the NCAA tournament because it didn’t want to chance playing a segregated team.
Then, finally in 1963 — three years before Texas El Paso used an all-black starting lineup to win the NCAA championship game over all-white Kentucky — Mississippi State’s players and coach wanted to find out what they were made of.
The school accepted a bid to play Loyola of Chicago in East Lansing, Mich., against the wishes of Mississippi governor Ross Barnett, who sent police to the school trying to stop the team from going.
However, the players wanted to go, and so did coach Babe McCarthy, who hatched an elaborate getaway plan that landed the team where it wanted to go.
Loyola started four black players and beat the Bulldogs 61-51, then went on to win the national championship, keeping Cincinnati from winning three straight titles.
In those days, they also played consolation NCAA games, and Mississippi State ended up playing Bowling Green and winning, 65-60. That’s the BG team that had big Nate Thurmond and Howard Komives. Thurmond was black.
The two years had nothing to do with each other, but it never hurts to learn a little history. And some day, the Wright State players will be able to tell their children they visited a place where a landmark event took place in this country.
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Raiders fall a little short
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Four Wright State Raiders scored in double figures tonight on ESPN2, but that didn’t match the numbers Mississippi State put on the Humphrey Coliseum scoreboard.
Several times the Raiders ranged close to the Bulldogs, but they never obtained the lead as Mississippi State won 80-69 in front of a crowd of 4,721.
Mississippi State took an early 10-2 lead and was up 21-8 when the Raiders pulled to within a basket, 29-27, on a 12-footer by Todd Brown with 4:42 to play in the first half.
However, MSU scored the next nine points and led 43-31 at the half.
In the second half, the Raiders cut the lead to nine points — 73-64 — on a 3-point Troy Tabler basket with less than four minutes to play, but could not advance any closer.
Tabler finished with 22 points while Ronnie Thomas added 14, Brown 12 and Vaughn Duggins 10.
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Early wakeup for Raiders
STARKVILLE — They were all on the bus at 8:30 this morning, on their way down the street for a morning shootaround before tonight’s game with Mississippi State.
Why so early for the Wright State Raiders? (Remember, it’s Central Time Zone here, so in Dayton, it was 9:30). A Mississippi State women’s game is going to be held at noon.
By 9, all the Raiders were on court and the ESPN2 folks came in to take a look, including announcer Hubert Davis, who played at North Carolina from 1988-92 and has been with ESPN since 2008.
The Raiders arrived late Tuesday afternoon on a charter flight, rested in their hotel, ate dinner and returned to the hotel for a film session. They’ll return home after the game tonight.
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The Raiders have landed
STARKVILLE — Hopped a ride with the Raiders, who will play Mississippi State here Wednesday, and it’s obvious why this place is called Starkville.
So far, kind of stark, although the university is a mile or so up the road. About the only thing inbetween are a couple of farms and trees.
So much for the sunny south, too. It’s about 10 degrees warmer here than in Dayton, but John David Gardner (for Alabama) and Cory Cooperwood (from Arkansas) are happy.
The Raiders took a charter to the Triangle Regional Airport, about 15 miles up the road, and were greeted at the airport by their own bus and driver, Jim Null, who drove the team bus with WSU Raiders written on the side to Starkville on Monday.
Null will pick up the team Wednesday morning at 8:30 to take them for an early shootaround for that night’s game, which will be broadcast on ESPN2 as well as WONE and WIZE radio.
Still no definite word on point guard N’Gai Evans, who injured his right knee last Tuesday at Toledo. Evans was held out of the Miami game Sunday and practiced a little today before getting on the plane, but his availability likely will be a game-time decision.
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RedHawks defeat Raiders
OXFORD — Kenny Hayes made a driving layup with 21.3 seconds to play and Wright State’s Vaughn Duggins missed a short baseline jumper as the clock expired today which ended the afternoon in a 56-55 Miami victory over Wright State at Millett Hall.
The victory ended a three-game Miami losing streak while also terminating a three-game WSU winning streak
Troy Tabler led the Raiders with 23 points, but Todd Brown, the team’s leading scorer, was held to just two points on 1-of-10 shooting.
Over the last four seasons, the teams have played four times, each winning twice. Both of WSU’s victories were also by a single point.
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Raiders limping a little
FAIRBORN — It turns out that extra day to get ready for Miami is good for the Raiders, who will be in better shape to face the RedHawks Sunday than they would be Saturday afternoon.
Miami asked for the extra day after playing at Cincinnati Thursday night and WSU complied for a 3 p.m. game.
What WSU didn’t know is starting point guard N’Gai Evans would be out with an MCL knee sprain and that starting off guard Vaughn Duggins would sit out a portion of Friday’s practice with an ankle sprain.
Duggins is expected to play Sunday, with Troy Tabler taking the spot vacated by Evans, although junior Scott Grote and freshman Darian Cartharn should play much more than usual as well, eating up Evans’ minutes.
Wright State enters the game wtiha 6-2 record and three-game winning streak while Miami is just 2-7 and has lost three straight.
However, the RedHawks have played only two teams with losing records and two teams — Kentucky and New Mexico — that haven’t lost at all.
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Evans strains MCL; probably out for Miami
FAIRBORN — The Raiders expect to be short a player Sunday when they visit Miami trying to eradicate last season’s unseemly 55-37 loss to the RedHawks.
Today, junior point guard N’Gai Evans was told he shouldn’t play by team doctors, and the way he was limping suggested that would be the case.
At least it’s not a bad injury. He strained his MCL in Tuesday’s game at Toledo. Wednesday and today, the Raiders did not practice, and Evans is supposed to be held back from Friday and Saturday’s practices, according to athletic trainer Jason Franklin.
Junior Scott Grote and freshman Darian Cartharn will likely take Evans’ place in the lineup, although after Evans went out at Toledo, WSU’s lead shrunk considerably. Evans doesn’t have amazing numbers (6.4 points a game, 27 assists in all), but he creates problems for opponents. He can put a lot of pressure on the ball.
Meanwhile, junior guard Vaughn Duggins, who has experimented with a couple of different braces for a sore left knee, says he’s ready to go without a brace in a game since the one he used at Toledo bothered him a little.
He should still use the brace in practice, Franklin said, and at game time, a decision would be made.
Soon, expect the Raiders to be at full strength at guard. John David Gardner, recovering from hip surgery, says he could be cleared to play around the first of the year.
If that happens, it could be a major boost for the Raiders.
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Raiders sneak by Toledo
TOLEDO — For the longest time tonight, Wright State’s defense held Toledo scoreless in a non-conference game held at the Savage Arena.
While the defense continued to be pretty good, the offense fell off and the Raiders, who led by as many as 16 points in the first half, held on to beat the Rockets 66-56.
It was the third straight victory for WSU, which went to 6-2. Toledo is 2-7.
Wright State forced nine Toledo turnovers in the first six minutes and held Toledo scoreless until Jake Barnett hit a 3-point shot that made WSU’s lead just 9-3.
At the half, the Raiders — who held Toledo to just 35 points last year at the Nutter Center — led 32-19.
Toledo trailed 48-35 with less than 10 minutes to play in the second half, but redshirt freshman Stephen Albrecht lofted in a 3-point shot as the shot clock was about to expire, and the Rockets were within 55-48 with 6:02 to go.
Later, Albrecht lofted in a two-point shot from the right corner that reduced WSU’s lead to 61-56 with under two minutes to play.
It was the last basket for the Rockets and WSU’s Vaughn Duggins made five of six free throws from that point on to lead the Raiders with 17 points. Todd Brown finished with 16 and Cory Cooperwood scored 14.
Sunday, the Raiders are at Miami, another MAC school.
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Brown becoming a rebounding force
FAIRBORN — Two of the more impressive lines from Saturday night’s 67-54 Wright State victory over Youngstown State were turned in by seniors Todd Brown and Cory Cooperwood.
Brown finished with 15 points, but also pulled in 8 rebounds, blocked two shots and had three steals.
Cooperwood grabbed 11 rebounds to go with segven points, an assist, block and four steals in only 27 minutes. His time was limited by three personal fouls.
Defense is what coach Brad Brownell stresses for his team, especially Brown.
“I’m so happy for him,” Brownell said. “We’re trying to make him into a complete player.”
And, he is.
Brown averaged 4.9 rebounds last season, and upped that to 5.8 in Horizon League play. So far this season, he is averaging 5 rebounds a game and is only two rebounds behind Cooperwood.
In the two Horizon League games so far, Brown has pulled down 15 rebounds. Not bad for a 6-foot-5 player who hangs around the perimeter.
He’s getting plenty of help from an offense that finds different players to score. In Saturday’s game, reserve guard and sometimes starter Troy Tabler went for 24, including a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line.
Now the Raiders face six straight non-conference games before the rest of the HL schedule begins. The non-conference run begins Tuesday at Toledo.
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Raiders go to 2-0 in Horizon League
FAIRBORN — For the fifth straight game over three seasons, Youngstown State made Wright State work hard for victory, but the Raiders did what they usually do in this lop-sided series — won.
Even though Youngstown State scored the first four points and led WSU by nine early, Wright State recovered to beat the Penguins 67-54 tonight at the Nutter Center.
Junior Troy Tabler led the Raiders with 24 points — his first 20-plus game — and Todd Brown had 15.
The victory pushed the Raiders to 5-2 and 2-0 in Horizon League play.
A Tabler 3-point basket followed by a similar basket by Ronnie Thomas broke open the game with just under 10 minutes to play after YSU pulled to within 42-40. The two 3-point baskets gave WSU a 48-40 lead and YSU was never within five after that.
Last season, the Raiders beat YSU by six points and one point. The year before, it was by three and 11.
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Raiders come through vs. CSU
FAIRBORN — Way too early to tell how good this Wright State basketball team will be, but there were some good signs on Thursday night when the Raiders beat Cleveland State 73-64 to begin Horizon League play at the Nutter Center.
First of all, on the first play of the game, CSU’s big Aaron Pogue — a Dayton Dunbar grad — ran into WSU’s Ronnie Thomas, who felt a twinge in his back he hadn’t felt since high school.
Thomas ended up playing five minutes and made one of his two baskets, but he didn’t get any rebounds and when trainer Jason Franklin was working on Thomas in the training room at halftime, WSU coach Brad Brownell sent word in, “Hey, we need him in the second half.”
Turns out the Raiders didn’t. Cory Cooperwood came down with 10 rebounds and added 13 points and Todd Brown went for seven rebounds and nine points.
Meanwhile, Cooper Land was being left alone on the perimeter, so he hit three of his five 3-point shots to end with 14 points. Vaughn Duggins, who didn’t start because he had a sore knee that kept him out of most practice this week, came off the bench to score 10 and his replacement, Troy Tabler, also scored 10.
Even without Thomas, the plan to outrebound CSU worked, 29-25, and the final score was much closer than it needed to be. Wright State led by 18 with four minutes to go and by 15 with 52 seconds left when CSU refused to stop playing.
Land has had big scoring games before, but only one other double-figure game this season, 12 points in the opener at Washington.
“Honestly, for me, we have guys like Vaughn and Todd for other teams to concentrate on,” Land said. “They’re our best players. They have to worry about those guys so much, I get left open. That’s how it should be.”
Land was left so wide open for one 3-point shot in the first half, it was almost like he was alone on the court.
It’s good all this happened without Thomas being able to play much and with Duggins at a tick less than full go, but the team will certainly need both at full strength in the coming weeks if it is really going to contend for the HL title.
“We’re in first place for a day,” Brownell said. “We played very good defense. The two keys in our rebounding tonight were Cory Cooperwood and Todd Brown.”
The Raiders tried to go inside on Pogue and were successful. Pogue fouled out after scoring four points and grabbing five rebounds. Norris Cole, the other Dunbar grad at CSU, finished with a game-high 18 points. He also had four assists, but five turnovers as well.
Saturday, the Raiders will try for two straight as Youngstown State visits for a 7 p.m. game.
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Another inconvenient truth
FAIRBORN — You think Al Gore is the only guy who can bring up an inconvenient truth?
Vanderbilt women’s basketball coach Melanie Balcomb brought up another one Wednesday night when she brought here No. 16-ranked Commodores to the Nutter Center to face Wright State.
She said she wasn’t afraid at all to play on the road, because all she was going to face was another team and didn’t have to worry about the crowd. There wasn’t going to be enough of a crowd to energize Wright State’s players.
It’s the same way in some men’s programs. The Raiders host Cleveland State in a big Horizon League game tonight that will be shown on ESPNU. The stands, maybe, will be half full. The Raiders’ men will get a little more boost from their fans than the women did, but not like the cross-town rival (in name only, not in head-to-head competition, since they don’t play) UD does.
At least the men’s game is healthy in a lot of places. Division I teams drew more than 25 million fans last season, while all NCAA divisions among the women drew just more than 11 million.
Balcomb noted how good the women’s game has become, how much parity there is. Except she noted during the regular season, there aren’t many upsets because home crowds can’t help the smaller teams. Once the NCAA starts and everybody is playing at a neutral site, the crowd levels that playing surface, and more upsets occur.
In the women’s game, only two schools — Tennessee and UConn — drew more than 10,000 fans a game last season. Only 17 schools topped 5,000 or more. On the men’s side, four schools — Kentucky, Syracuse, North Carolina and Tennessee — drew better than 20,000 a game and 43 schools had attendance of 10,000 or more, including UD.
It’s tough to tell people how to spend their money, and there are so many choices these days, you can’t be everywhere at once.
But for women who want equality, real equality, there’s an easy way to get it. Support your team by attending a game. There’s parity on the court. There needs to be more in the stands.
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Injuries won’t get in way of Thursday’s game
FAIRBORN — Practice was demanding at the Nutter Center this afternoon and caused a few deeper bruises than usual, although every Wright State player is expected to be ready for Thursday’s Horizon League opener with Cleveland State on ESPNU at 9 p.m.
At one point, three players were off the floor being attended to by athletics trainer Jason Franklin, who called the injuries minor.
Freshman guard Tyler Koch rolled his left ankle, junior forward Cooper Land hurt his right elbow and junior guard Vaughn Duggins injured his left knee.
All were bandaged and were expected to be ready for Wednesday’s practice.
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Cleveland State will be tough opponent
FAIRBORN — The fact J’Nathan Bullock and Cedric Jackson have graduated from last season’s Cleveland State team does not mean the Vikings will be hurting this season.
So far, they haven’t been quite as good as the 26-11 record they posted (not all of their victories came against Division I teams, as will be the case this season), but they’ve also played Kentucky, Virginia and Wichita State, which is why they visit the Nutter Center Thursday with a three-game losing streak.
“They’re very good,” Wright State coach Brad Brownell said. “They’ve got enough guys who played significant minutes back. People forget about how good D’Aundray Brown was. He was hurt a lot last year.”
Brown was hurt in the first WSU game, suffering a stress frcture to the ribs after playing only 12 minutes. He didn’t score any points in that game, and Wright State won, 71-62. And Brown was still on the bench the second time the teams met, on Jan. 31, when Cleveland State won at home, 59-50.
Dayton Dunbar’s Norris Cole hurt the Raiders in both games, going for 18 and 20 points.
So don’t look for an easy game. Pre-game, by the way, starts early. There will be food and other festivities in the McLin Gym at 7 p.m., two hours before the ESPNU start. Also, Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News will be honored by the school for long service as a sports writer in the community.
