“I felt like I did the best I could to get us off of the high of Senior Night emotionally and bring us back — because I knew they’d be ready for us and very locked in,” Nagy said on his post-game radio show. “But sometimes, I know as a coach, it doesn’t matter what you say.
“They were more hungry, and that was clear from the start.”
Wayne High School product Darius Quisenberry scored a career-high 41 points, and the Penguins rolled to an 88-70 victory, ending a six-game losing streak in the series.
The Raiders fell to 23-6 overall and 13-3 in the Horizon League, and their lead over second-place Northern Kentucky has dwindled to one game with two to go.
Normally a strong rebounding team, the Raiders had their worst showing on the boards this season, getting manhandled 43-24.
They had out-rebounded 10 of their previous 28 foes by double digits.
“We’re not rebounding like we were earlier in the year. We’re just not the same rebounding team, and it has affected our defense,” Nagy said. “We’re lightweights right now.”
The 6-foot-1 Quisenberry, a second-team all-league pick as a freshman last season, scored 25 points in the first half and finished 14 of 26 from the field and 7 of 11 on 3-pointers.
Though he was averaging a team-best 15.6 points, he was held out of the starting lineup for the first time in 59 career games in a 72-64 loss at Oakland on Saturday and went to Twitter to express his feelings:
“In life you just gotta except (sic) certain things for what they are and not what you want them to be. Sometimes that’s the hardest thing to do.”
But he started against the Raiders and took out his frustration on them.
Loudon Love had 17 points but only four rebounds. Bill Wampler chipped in 16 points, Tanner Holden 14 and Jordan Ash 10.
Wright State cut an 11-point deficit to 71-65 with six minutes to go. But YSU (16-12, 9-6) scored the next 11 points for an 82-65 lead on the way to its first win in the series since Jan. 7, 2017.
The Raiders went almost four minutes without scoring. During the drought, they missed five shots and a free throw and committed a turnover.
“Every loose ball, they just beat us to it. It was more important to them for sure,” Nagy said.
“But we’ve got a good group of kids. They’ll bounce back from this. I won’t have to say a lot. They’ll take care of it.”
SATURDAY’S GAME
Wright State (23-6, 13-3) at Cleveland State (10-18, 6-9), 3 p.m., ESPN3/106.5
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