Detroit Mercy took the lead with 10 seconds left and beat the Raiders 77-74 in front of 3,271 fans at the Nutter Center.
The Titans (11-13, 8-7) outscored the Raiders 10-2 over the last four and a half minutes.
“I just don’t think we had that killer instinct in us tonight,” Wright State coach Clint Sargent said. “… We need to own this and let this hurt and learn from it.”
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Detroit Mercy redshirt freshman guard Tyler Spratt made a jumper from near the free-throw line with pressure from two defenders with 10 seconds left to give Detroit Mercy a 75-74 lead.
Michael Cooper had a 3-pointer from the left wing bounce off the rim with about a second left. The Raiders committed a foul trying to rebound, and Ryan Kalambay made two free throws with 0.9 seconds left. Cooper’s desperation heave to tie it before the buzzer wasn’t close.
“I feel like they came to play from the first tip,” Cooper, who finished with 15 points on his birthday, said. “I feel like we kind of came out a little lackadaisical, and that’s been our big thing. Just playing for 40 minutes. I feel like tonight, again, we didn’t play a full 40 minutes, and it came back to bite us.”
The good news for Wright State (16-10, 11-4) is Oakland was edged by four points against Youngstown State on Thursday. The Raiders remains in sole possession for first place in league standings, with Oakland (14-12, 10-5) and Wisconsin Green Bay (15-12, 10-6) close behind.
“I wouldn’t call it added pressure, because it’s a great problem to have, being in the No. 1 seat and trying to fight off other teams,” Cooper said. “So it’s definitely not pressure. We know we’ve got to bring what we do every day in practice. And I feel like tonight we didn’t do that.”
Wright State shot 40.6 percent (26 for 64) from the floor compared to 52.5 percent by the Titans. Detroit Mercy outrebounded the Raiders 37-32.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Sargent said the Titans were tough to contend with in the post. Kalambay, a sophomore forward, and senior forward Legend Geeter combined for 16 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks.
“That backed us up, our ability to get paint touches,” Sargent said. “I thought that stymied us a little bit. We missed a few 3s. …I think we can just go searching instead of just making aggressive plays, but I thought Detroit was great defensively.”
Andrea Holden, a sophomore forward, added 15 points and five rebounds for Wright State. TJ Burch scored 11.
The Raiders trailed by 11 points early in the second half but went on a hot streak and led by six points with under five minutes to play.
They managed just two points the rest of the way, with the last two coming on a layup by Kellen Pickett with 3:15 left.
“We’ve not played a whole 40 minutes, and when we do, I think we’ve got a heck of a team,” Sargent said. “But why we haven’t done that continues to be my responsibility. We practice well. Our guys are engaged. …I’m going to be encouraged that we haven’t clicked yet, we haven’t quote unquote peaked yet, and I believe we will.”
Detroit Mercy dominated the final six minutes of the first half and led 40-34 at halftime, then started the second with an 8-4 run to push its lead to 10 points with 17:25 left.
The Raiders fought back over the next 10 minutes.
After a successful challenge by Sargent resulted in a Detroit Mercy turnover, Solomon Callaghan and Michael Cooper each made 3-pointers to bring the Raiders within 50-46.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Dominic Pangonis hit a 3 with 10:39 left to cap off an 8-2 run and pull Wright State within 59-56. The Titans made two straight baskets to push their lead to seven, but Cooper made three consecutive 3-pointers to give the Raiders a 64-63 lead with 7:47 left.
“It was good,” Sargent said. “We just need Michael to play the first half, for a freshman, where he’s at, just finding consistency for him, for our team.”
The Raiders led most of the first half and pushed their advantage to 18-11 after a dunk by Sam Alamutu with 11:36 left.
But the Titans quickly got back in it. A 3-pointer by Orlando Lovejoy tied it 25-25 with 4:46 left, and Kalambay made a layup about 50 seconds later to cap a 12-2 run and give Detroit Mercy a 29-27 lead.
Wright State battled back to tie it, but the Titans made three 3-pointers in a 70-second span to take a 40-31 lead with 58 seconds left. Holden capped off a strong first half with a three-point play to cut the gap to six points at halftime.
Next game
Who: Wright State at Cleveland State
When: 2 p.m. Sunday
Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 1410-AM, 101.5-FM
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