In a didn’t-see-that-one-coming, 85-79 defeat before 3,630 fans, the Raiders had their seven-game winning streak ended and fell to 12-8 overall and out of a first-place perch by themselves in the Horizon League by dropping to 7-2.
“Hats off to Cleveland State. They played with a tenacity and pace — they were desperate to win. You have to give them a ton of credit,” coach Clint Sargent said.
“They played with good connectivity, good life, low entitlement.”
The Vikings (7-14 overall, 3-7 in the HL) shot 50.9% from the field, went 11 of 23 on 3’s and hit 20 of 22 foul shots. They took a 40-33 halftime lead, fell behind by eight and then were the steadier team in the final minutes.
“I’m very disappointed in our mental ability to focus. We had the (six-day) break, and I thought our guys did a really good job at practice. But we were up against ourselves tonight — and that’s not taking anything away from Cleveland State,” Sargent said.
“I thought our concentration and defensive lapses early in the game spiraled us a little bit, and we didn’t respond. … You start to win, and you think you’re just going to (continually) win. That’s not how it works.”
Before going into the locker room at halftime — and since they had to wait on the court for the scholar-athlete ceremony for all sports — the players huddled together for a heart-to-heart talk.
Veterans Michael Imariagbe and Bryan Etumnu were the most vocal, sometimes getting animated. And it worked — but not long enough.
The Raiders gave up the first basket of the second half in 10 seconds and then fell behind, 47-37, after a 3 by Tre Beard with 18 minutes left.
But a four-point play by Logan Woods was part of an 18-0 surge over the next seven-plus minutes.
It was a stunning turnaround.
But the tailwinds didn’t last.
The Vikings tied the game at 68-all with 5:09 to go, regained the lead at 4:28 and made it 73-68 on a 3 with 3:35 left.
After a Sargent timeout, TJ Burch scored, made a steal and scored again.
And after CSU missed a 1-and-1, Burch tipped in his own shot and was fouled at 1:17. His free throw gave Wright State a 79-77 lead.
But Dayan Nessah had a three-point play for an 80-79 edge at 1:01.
Burch was blocked on a drive, and Nessah scored again inside with 21.2 to go.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
After the Raiders misfired again, Beard made two foul shots at 11.2 to seal it.
“I feel like it was a lack of connection (with each other). Moving forward, we’ve got to come out of this a little stronger and be more connected in terms of defensively and on the floor emotionally,” Solomon Callaghan said.
“We were sticking together as a team. I never question our connectivity together emotionally. But we’ve got to put it out there on the floor.”
Michael Cooper had 14 points to lead six players in double figures.
The Raiders went only 5 of 24 from 3 and 12 of 18 on foul shots.
“As much as we’ve learned how to win, now we’re learning how you can sustain excellence. Excellence is you can win games like this when you don’t have your best. And that’s aways going to be defensively,” Sargent said.
“To give up 85, and for them to shoot 50% from the floor and 11 of 23 on 3’s, it’s hard to win.”
Next game
Who: Northern Kentucky at Wright State
When: 7 p.m. Saturday
Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 1410-AM, 101.5-FM
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