Raiders fall to Detroit 77-67February 26, 2011By Mike Klingshirn
Both teams battled toe-to-toe for nearly the entire first half, trading baskets over the first 17 minutes of action. Neither team led by more than four points until Wright State (18-13, 10-8 HL) went on an 8-0 run to close the half and take a 32-27 lead into the locker room. There were nine lead changes and the score was tied five times prior to the intermission. The Raiders were sluggish to begin the second half. Detroit tied the game at 34, just two minutes after play had resumed. The Titans then scored six of the contest’s next eight points to go up 40-36. Vaughn Duggins did his best to keep his team close by scoring the Green and Gold’s next eight points, on a pair of treys and a slam-dunk, but the Raiders still trailed 50-44 with just over nine minutes to play. N’Gai Evans drained a trey to narrow the Titan lead to 64-62 at the 2:28 mark, but Detroit made some big plays, scoring the game’s next seven points, to win going away by a final score of 77-67 — the game’s largest margin. Wright State’s four seniors combined to score 56 of the team’s 67 points. Vaughn Duggins scored 27 on 12-of-17 shooting from the field, and one free throw. Evans chipped in with 12 and Cooper Land added 11. Troy Table hit two 3-pointers for 6 points, in his first action since breaking a finger on his right hand. Other Raiders to score were AJ Pacher (4), Cole Darling (4) and Vance Hall (3). Two Titans recorded double-doubles. Eli Holman scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Nick Minnerath scored 13 and pulled down 11 boards. Chris Blake and Chase Simon also scored in double figures for Detroit with 21 and 15 points respectively. The Titans won the battle of the boards 38-21. They also committed 15 turnovers to just 5 for the Raiders. The Green and Gold hit 26-of-58 from the field for 45-percent, going 7-of-25 from beyond the 3-point line. Detroit meanwhile, shot 27-of-48 for 56-percent. Revenge of the Titans:After winning all 10 games against Detroit during the Brad Brownell era, the Raiders have dropped both decisions to the Titans this year. Horizon League Tournament:The Raiders open Horizon League play on Tuesday night at home as the #6 seed. Their opponent, either Green Bay or Loyola, will be determined by the end of league play on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 7:00.
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Free Throws Give the Women a WinFebruary 19, 2011By Kevin C. Smith
Wright State (16-9/9-5HL) hosted the Horizon League last place team, Youngstown State (4-22/2-13HL) on Saturday. It turned into a battle and the Wright State women held on for a 70-67 win. The win was achieved at the free throw line. The Lady Raiders saw YSU jump out to an 11 point lead before Shaunda Sandifer scored the first Raider basket at 16:45. A LaShawna Thomas basket at 12:27 gave the Raiders their first lead at 14-13. The first half saw the teams trading three point shots. In the half they shot 30 three point shots. WSU sank 5 of their 14 shots, for 35.7% while YSU hit 50% (8-16). The Lady Raiders gave up 18 points on eleven turnovers. Youngstown State’s last second shot gave them lead going into the locker room, 36-35. The second half saw WSU come out and take the lead back before YSU again got the lead on a three pointer. This game saw nine ties and the lead changed hands 15 times. Forty eight three point tries between the two teams kept the game close and the lead changing. The Lady Raiders finished with 31.6% (6-19) from beyond the arc. Overall they were able to hit 36.8% (21-57) of their field goals. They finished with 17 turnovers for 24 YSU points, while getting 20 points for themselves from 16 YSU Turnovers. Although the Lady Raiders controlled the boards, 43-32, they had a long dry spell for field goals. Their last field goal at 1:35 broke an eight and a half minute drought in field goals. During that time the only WSU scoring was at the line. The Raiders picked up 22 points out of 33 attempts from the charity stripe, shooting 73.3% (22-30). Sixteen of those points came during the last 10 plus minutes of this game. LaShawna Thomas had a career high and a double-double. She sank 35 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. She also had two steals. Shaunda Sandifer also had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Maria Bennett finished with 11 points, while Molly Fox sank 10. The women struggled at times in this game but they pulled out the win from the line. The 70-67 win will keep them in third place in the Horizon League race. They now play two games on the road against Loyola and UIC before their return to the Nutter Center for their last home stand. They will play #14 UW-Green Bay on Mar 3rd and UW-Milwaukee on Saturday the 5th to finish the season before the HL Tournament starts on Monday Mar 7th.
Photos © and Courtesy of Tim G. Zechar
Career High 31 Points from Duggins Leads WSU Past Hofstra 82-56February 19, 2011 By Mike Klingshirn Dayton, OH – With an ESPNU national television audience and 5,073 fans in attendance at the Nutter Center for a late Saturday morning BracketBusters match-up, all eyes were on Charles Jenkins, the fourth leading scorer in the nation and Hofstra’s all-time leading scorer. However, on this day, it was Wright State’s Vaughn Duggins that stole the show, pouring in a career high 31 points to lead the Raiders to an 82-56 victory over the Hofstra Pride from the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). “Whether people agree with this or not, the bottom line is this,” said Wright State head coach Billy Donlon. “Vaughn Duggins was supposed to play in the Colonial Athletic Association six years ago, when we were at UNC-Wilmington. As a player, he’s probably followed the CAA and wanted to show that league what they were missing. I guarantee that it was motivation. For whatever reason, he is the most underrated (by the media), really good player that I’ve ever seen. When we go to other places, it’s like Vaughn is just another also-ran kind of player. He just had 31 points tonight and he held Jenkins in check.” Hofstra (18-10) opened the game by scoring the game’s first four points. With Wright State trailing 7-4, a steal by N’Gai Evans, followed by the assist to Vaughn Duggins for a slam dunk, sparked an 8-point run to put the Raiders in front by a score of 12-7. A 3-pointer and lay-up by Duggins stretched the lead to 17-9. Once Duggins hit some early shots, it was apparent that he was beginning to feel it and you could sense that he was going to have a big game. He finished the first half with 13 points, helping to send the Green and Gold into the locker room with a 33-26 lead. “As soon as the game started, I don’t know if they (Hofstra) respected us enough,” commented Duggins. “So we really took it to them and were able to make plays early.” WSU’s game plan was to not let Charles Jenkins beat them. Their goal was to make Hofstra’s other players make some shots. The Raiders used a tenacious defense to push Hofstra out of what they wanted to do. The much touted Jenkins was held to 18 points for the contest on 3-of-8 shooting from the field. Twelve of his 18 points came from the foul line on 14 attempts, while none of his three baskets came from more than a couple of feet away from the hoop. Wright State (18-12) took firm control of the game by opening the second half with a 15-6 run before the first media time-out of the second half. That put them up 48-32 at the 15:44 mark. Two minutes later, the Raiders found themselves up 56-35, thanks to a pair of N’Gai Evans free throws and two 3-pointers from Cooper Land and Vance Hall. Hofstra, a team that can score points in bunches, could not muster a significant run over the remainder of contest. They narrowed the Wright State lead to 18 points at 56-38 and 72-54, but could get no closer. Hofstra recorded 27 of their 56 points from the charity stripe on 38 attempts. Meanwhile, the Raider’s hit 23-of-26 from the line for 89%. WSU connected on 26-of-57 field goals for 46%, while Hofstra went 33% on 14-of-42 shooting. Vaughn Duggins led the Raiders with 31 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field and a perfect 10-of- 10 from the charity stripe. He also contributed with four rebounds, two assists and two steals, without committing a turnover in 37 minutes of action. “Vaughn is a pure scorer,” said N’Gai Evans. “He gets buckets in all kind of ways — in the post, free throw line, driving and treys. A guy that can do that is hard to stop.” Evans also contributed with another outstanding performance, scoring 12 points, while handing out seven assists and committing just one turnover. Other Raiders to score were Cooper Land (9), AJ Pacher (7), Vance Hall (6), Johann Mpondo (6), Kegan Clark (5), Cole Darling (4) and Matt Vest (2). Wright State took very good care of the basketball, committing just four turnovers for the game. They won the battle of the boards 35-32. WSU’s bench outscored Hofstra’s 24-6. The Raiders also scored 20 points off of 13 Hofstra turnovers. Wright State returns to action on Friday February 25 for a 7:00 tip-off with the Detroit Titans on Senior Night. The contest will be the last regular season home game in the careers of WSU’s four seniors – Vaughn Duggins, N’Gai Evans, Cooper Land and Troy Tabler. With 31 points today, Vaughn Duggins moved into fourth place on Wright State University’s all-time scoring list with a total of 1,716 career points. Ahead of him are Bill Edwards (2,303), DaShaun Wood (1,849) and Keion Brooks (1,766). Wright State – Hofstra Box Score
Photos © and Courtesy of Tim G. Zechar Coach Donlon’s Comments Vaughn and N’Gai’s Comments Hofstra’s Coach Comments
Turnovers, Poor Plays Cost Women a WinFebruary 18, 2011By Kevin C. Smith Looking like the women’s team from recent past years, the Lady Raiders (15-9/8-5 HL) went down to defeat as Cleveland State (15-10/8-6 HL) overcame a deficit to win 74-66. Saturday, the women will host Youngstown State starting at 1:30. This was a battle between the Horizon Leagues third and fourth place teams. WSU had previously beaten CSU in Cleveland, so a home win could be expected. That was not to be. The Lady Raiders played as they have done in the past and got beat. Twenty three turnovers gave CSU 24 points and the game. The Lady Raiders seemed to want to only pass the ball to the key, as was done in the past, but that play was not working. The team is known for its three-point shooting, but in this game could only hit 5-16 for 31.3%. That is below their average attempts of 24 per game and completing 7.4 each outing. No, this game was mostly under the boards and it hurt. WSU shot 38.7% (24-62) in this game, compared to 44.4% (24-54) for Cleveland State, including ten CSU three point shots. The Raiders also out rebounded CSU 47-24. Many of those shots and rebounds were put backs and missed layups due to CSUs defense in close. In many cases players on the outside where open and waiting for the ball. Wright State had a 15 point lead at one time in the first half. It looked like they would sweep CSU. However we watched as that lead disappeared. In fact in the last eight minutes and 44 seconds, the Lady Raiders scored only three points and those were from the charity stripe. LaShawna Thomas again lead the Raiders with 19 points and seven rebounds. Ta-myra Davis picked up a double-double with 16 points and ten boards. She also had one of the two Raider steals in the game. On Saturday the women will host last place Youngstown State (4-21/2-12 HL) after the men’s game. Start time is projected as 1:30. Wright State remains in third place in the HL. However they need to win to remain there. Third and fourth seeds in the tournament will host a tournament quarterfinal game on March 9th. Wright State has a good chance of being third, but they need to protect the ball.
Raiders Drop 74-72 Heartbreaker to Cleveland StateFebruary 17, 2011By WSU Athletics N’Gai Evans banked in a three with 1:28 left to put Wright State up one, but Cleveland State answered with a triple of its own and held on from there as the Vikings handed the Raiders a 74-72 heartbreaking setback Wednesday night at Wright State’s Nutter Center. Neither team had more than a four-point lead until a 7-0 WSU run, five coming from Cole Darling, made it 20-14 with 8:51 remaining in the first half. CSU, however, answered right back with a 10-0 burst over the next 2:31, seven by Norris Cole, to regain the advantage. An AJ Pacher triple at the 2:54 mark put the Raiders back in front 29-27 and the margin was one until a Cole jumper in the final seconds gave Cleveland State a 34-33 edge at the break. Both teams shot the ball well in the opening 20 minutes as the Vikings were at 54 percent, including four of eight from three-point range, compared to 52 percent for Wright State, who was three of six from behind the arc and eight of nine at the foul line. CSU extended its lead to six on two different occasions in the first 10 minutes of the second half, only to see WSU tie it at 54 on a Matt Vest three with 7:13 to play. Jeremy Montgomery, though, responded with a three of his own and a Cole triple from the top of the key made it 65-58 at the 4:22 mark. Back came the Raiders, though, as after a Vaughn Duggins three-point play, Evans had a layup and banked in a three from the right wing to put Wright State in front 66-65 with 1:28 to go. That turned out to be the final lead of the night for WSU, however, as Trevon Harmon connected on a three from the left wing and Cole hit two foul shots at the 19.1-second mark to make it 70-66. After the two teams exchanged scores, another Evans layup followed by two Montgomery foul shots, Evans made a three with six seconds left to cut the deficit to 72-71. Montgomery, though, hit two more at the line with 4.2 seconds left and after Duggins hit the first of two at 3.9, his intentional miss was rebounded by Cole, who ran the clock out. Both teams continued their solid shooting in the second half as Cleveland State shot 57 percent to finish at 55 percent overall while Wright State hit for 50 percent to end up at 51 percent for the game. The Vikings held a slight 24-23 rebounding edge and outscored the Raiders 30-24 in the paint and 8-2 in fast-break points. Duggins and Evans each had 21 points to pace Wright State, with Evans scoring 18 of those in the second half. Darling had a season-high 13 points. All five Cleveland State (23-5, 12-4 Horizon) starters scored in double figures, led by Aaron Pogue’s 18, 13 coming after halftime, while Harmon and Cole each had 16, Montgomery 14 and Tim Kamczyc 10. Cole recorded a double-double as he added 10 assists. Wright State (17-12, 10-7 Horizon) will host Hofstra as part of the Sears BracketBusters Saturday at 11 am. The game will be televised live on ESPNU. Post-game Audio Wright State’s Darling, Duggins, and Evans
Photos © and Courtesy of Tim G. Zechar CSU Coach and Players
Men Hold Off Youngstown State 74-70February 7, 2011By WSU Athletics
Neither team had more than a four-point lead during the first half as there were nine ties and six lead changes. After YSU’s DuShawn Brooks tied it at 38 with a jumper at the 1:33 mark, Vaughn Duggins gave the Raiders a two-point halftime edge on a basket with 31 seconds left. Both teams shot the ball well in the opening 20 minutes as Youngstown State was 15 of 24 for 63 percent, including six of 12 from three-point range, while Wright State was 17 of 33 for 52 percent. WSU, though, forced the Penguins into 11 turnovers while committing just three, resulting in a 15-5 differential in points off of turnovers and 8-0 in fast-break points. The Penguins scored the first seven points of the second half to go up 45-40, only to see the Raiders responded with a 9-2 burst to regain the lead at 49-47 on a Duggins jumper with 13:12 to go, Both teams then held four-point advantages before WSU went back in front 67-66 on a N’Gai Evans three at the 3:03 mark. Kendrick Perry put the Penguins back ahead on two foul shots with 2:32 remaining before Cole Darling gave Wright State the lead for good on a pair at the line with 1:18 left. A steal and fast-break basket by Evans extended the margin to three, but Perry connected on a jumper just left of the lane to make it 71-70 at the 36.8-second mark. Evans, however, hit a pair of foul shots with 17.2 seconds left and, after a missed three attempt by Youngstown State on its next possession, Matt Vest made one of two at the stripe with 8.6 seconds to go to seal the victory. Both teams cooled somewhat in the second half as WSU shot 39 percent to finish at 46 percent overall while YSU hit for 42 percent to end up at 52 percent for the game. The Penguins were also 11 of 26 from behind the arc compared to six of 17 for the Raiders. Wright State, though, hit 16 of 20 foul shots compared to nine of 12 for Youngstown State and the Raiders led in points in the paint (38-20), points off of turnovers (23-7), second-chance points (7-2) and fast-break points (10-0). Duggins led WSU with 24 points while Evans had 17, 14 coming in the second half, along with eight rebounds. Darling added 11 points and Vest had 10 points and eight boards. Vytas Sulskis hit his first nine shots, including six threes, to lead all scorers with 26 points for Youngstown State (8-16, 2-12 Horizon) while Perry chipped in 16, 14 in the second half. Wright State (17-9, 10-4 Horizon) hits the road this weekend for Indiana, starting with a 7:00 matchup at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Thursday, February 10, against the Butler Bulldogs. The game can be seen live on ESPNU. Audio Post-game Comments from Wright State Coach Billy Donlon Post-game Comments from Wright State’s Players
Photos © and Courtesy of Tim G. Zechar Matt, Vaughn, and N’Gai
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