The Raiders flirted with setting an all-time program record for fewest opponent points while blitzing Division-III Franklin, 86-37, before 2,910 fans in the season-opener Monday.
The record came in a 57-31 win over UIC on Jan. 24, 2009.
The Grizzlies had only 21 points with under four minutes to go but scored 16 in the final 3:38 to avoid making the Wright State record book.
Sargent is quick to point out the competition will get infinitely tougher starting with a trip to Cal on Thursday. But he’s happy to see progress.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
“It was a great effort, but it can be better — and that’s not a coach-ism or prideful statement,” he said. “I just really believe, if you try to look at things a little bit differently and you have mature people around you, you can set an incredibly high standard.
“There should be an appetite (for success). And they know it, too. It wasn’t good enough the last four minutes.”
Franklin had trouble finding room to shoot, much less make anything.
The Raiders jumped out to an 11-0 lead and stretched it to 36-5 with 4:35 to go in the first half.
Two transfers, Dominic Pagonis and Bryan Etumnu, started along with Logan Woods, Michael Imariagbe and Michael Cooper, a freshman point guard who scored the first bucket of the season on a short jumper.
Imariagbe had a game-high 13 points, Woods had 10 and five assists, and Cooper 10 and six rebounds.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Backup point guard TJ Burch didn’t score but had nine assists. And Alex Bruskotter had 11 points (making three 3’s) in 12 minutes.
“We try to bring energy every game, press teams and take their joy from them,” said Imariagbe, who had four rebounds to help his team to a whopping 52-26 edge.
“We’re still not going to relax. We got a Dub (win). Even though it was a D-III team, we want to play with the same intensity every game. On Thursday, we’re looking forward to punching them in the mouth.”
Franklin went 22-8 last season, its most wins since 1998-99, and reached the NCAA Sweet 16.
The Raiders have let lower-division foes stick around at times over the years. But they made it a snoozer almost from the start.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
The highlight of the night came on a pair of dunks in an 11-second span midway through the second half.
Sam Alamutu started it off with a slam, and then Burch stole the ball in the backcourt and passed to Kellen Pickett for a resounding alley-oop. That made it 62-16.
“There’s a lot of ‘off-ramps’ when you’re playing a non-Division I school. We tried to educate our guys (about Franklin), and I was very pleased with the enthusiasm of our players and how they gave to each other throughout the game,” Sargent said.
“I thought we had a number of guys show a very, very high level of maturity. … There were plenty of times for our guys to Hollywood it and be too cool. And I’m very pleased with how we looked for the majority of the game.”
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
WOMEN’S HOOPS: The Raiders dropped a 74-53 decision in their season opener Monday at Butler. They shot only 33.8%, going 4 of 21 on 3’s.
Chard Peloquin Chloe, a 6-3 senior, had new career-highs with 15 points and 11 rebounds. She transferred to Wright State two years ago after starting her career at Canisius.
Claire Henson, a 5-10 senior, had 13 points and nine rebounds.
Butler, which won the board battle, 43-32, was picked ninth out of 11 teams in the Big East preseason poll. UConn was the favorite.
NEXT GAME
Who: Wright State at California
When: 10 p.m. Thursday
Streaming: ACC Network Extra
Radio: 1410-AM, 101.5-FM
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