Raiders slip past Ramblers 47-41

Loyola falls to 0-11 in league play

By Mike Klingshirn

DAYTON, Ohio – The Wright State Raiders rallied past the Loyola Ramblers on Friday night at the Nutter Center, to come away with a 47-41 victory, after surviving another one of their all-too-familiar woeful first-half offensive performances.

There were four lead changes in the game’s first twenty minutes, but Loyola (5-16, 0-11 HL) used a 21-10 first half rebounding advantage to take a 20-17 lead into the halftime locker room.

Although the first half resembled a defensive struggle, with the Raiders hitting just 5-of-24 shots from the field, WSU’s offensive ineptitude was partly their own making.

“We were really just out there standing,” said Wright State’s Julius Mays. “I wasn’t moving. I think that the guys were waiting on me. They were standing and watching. I was standing and watching. We weren’t running the offense with any kind of pace, so it made us have a slow start. The offense was tough to come by.”

The Ramblers proceeded to stretch their advantage to 27-21 with 15:27 left to play. But from there, Julius Mays ignited a 15-point Wright State run with a layup and jumper; and the Raiders tossed a defensive shut-out, holding Loyola scoreless over the next ten minutes of action, turning the six-point deficit into a nine-point advantage at 36-27.

Loyola’s Chim Kadima ended his team’s scoring drought with a pair of free throws to make it 36-29 with 5:48 remaining. A Brito Denzel layup narrowed the gap to 36-31 a minute later (4:49), but the Ramblers got no closer than four points (40-36 and 42-38) over the rest of the contest.

Wright State (11-12, 6-5) held on for a 47-41 triumph.

Julius Mays led the Raiders with 16 points, but it was the supporting cast, especially Cole Darling that sealed win for the Green and Gold. Darling scored six of WSU’s seven points over the game’s final 2:18 with a layup and 4-of-4 shooting from the free throw line.

“Tonight, we learned to play without Mays,” said WSU head coach Billy Donlon. “Even though he was in the game, I thought other guys tried to make plays when it mattered — and that’s important.”

Postgame Audio

Mays and Battle

Coach Donlon

Photos © and Courtesy of Tim G. Zechar

Raiders (10-12, 5-5 HL) defeat Flames (6-14, 2-8 HL) 69-63.

Mays returns with a vengeance

The Raiders had a phenomenal first half, scoring 42 points (more than many entire games this year). The 3378 in attendance saw a potent WSU offense rarely seen this year. In the first period WSU shot 54% from the field and 83% from the free throw line. The Raiders held on to the ball – only 6 turnovers in the first period. Julius scored 19 in the first half on his way to what would be a career night.

The Raiders lead by as much as 18 in the first half. UIC Coach Howard Moore picked up a frustration technical foul with 1:49 left in the first half. At the break, WSU led 42-28.

The Flames came out of the break a different team – as did the Raiders. UIC was hitting shots and WSU was not (21% FG in the 2nd). Halfway through the second period WSU had scored 8 points while UIC dropped in 15 and trailed by 7, 50-43.

UIC got the score to within 1 point (52-51) but were never able to get the lead. WSU played tough those last few minutes, hit their free throws and pulled out the win over UIC.

UIC dominated WSU in the paint, outscoring the Raiders 28-10 and outrebounding WSU 34-27 (Humes with 9 for UIC). Marc Brown led UIC in scoring with 17.

Julius Mays, back from an injury and still not 100%, had a career night, scoring 33 – and – shooting an incredible 19-20 free throws. The 19 free throws broke Bill Edwards’ record set in 1993, also against the Flames.

Next up for WSU will be the Ramblers of Loyola in a Friday night (7pm) Horizon League matchup. This will be Beavercreek night and the Black Out game for the 2011-12 season. The first 3000 in attendance get a t-shirt.

Also, it will be Cancer Awareness weekend as coaches across the country will wear tennis shoes with their suits.

Postgame Audio

Mays and Mpondo

Coach Donlon

Photos © and Courtesy of Tim G. Zechar

Battle and Mays Lead WSU Past Valpo 73-55

By Mike Klingshirn

DAYTON, Ohio – Armond Battle poured in a career-high 23 points and Julius Mays added 21 to lead the Wright State Raiders over the Valparaiso Crusaders 73-55 at the Nutter Center on Sunday afternoon. In addition to scoring, Battle and Mays led their team in rebounds, grabbing six apiece. In a stellar all-around performance, Battle also chipped in by making four steals.

“Losing the game like we did to Butler on Friday, we had to bounce back,” Mays said. “We had to let that one go. We’ll get another shot at Butler in Indy in February, so we knew that we had to win this game.”

Battle finished the game, hitting 7-of-11 from the field and 8-of-12 from the free throw line. His 23 points were far above his season average of 5.8 points per game.

“I told him (Battle) after the game on Friday night, that he was playing how I started out earlier in the season,” Mays said. “You just need to quit thinking so much on offense and just play your game. We know the Armond Battle that can play – and that’s the Armond Battle that played tonight.”

After a three-pointer by Mays quickly put the Raiders on top 3-0, just 11 seconds into the game, the Valparaiso Crusaders (10-7, 3-2 HL) took command of the contest’s next eight minutes to go up 12-7. Wright State (9-9, 4-2 HL) responded with an Arceneaux trey and a spinning jumper near the hoop by Cole Darling to even the score at 12.

Both teams battled toe-to-toe over the remaining eleven minutes of the half. Armond Battle closed the first half scoring by hitting a layup with six seconds left, to pull WSU within 33-31, heading into the locker room.

In a game reminiscent of the battle against Butler two nights earlier, there were eight lead changes and eleven tied scores, with the scoreboard reading 37-37 and 15:36 showing on the clock. From there, however, this game was totally dominated by the Raiders.

Wright State went on an 8-0 run over the next two minutes to go up 45-37, fueled by Matt Vest and Arceneaux layups, a tip-in by Battle, and a jumper by Arceneaux. Valpo got no closer than five points (47-42), before the Raiders stretched their advantage to 69-51 with 2:02 left to play, and eventually winning by a final score of 73-55.

Wright State shot 49-percent (26-of-53) form the field, and 77-percent (17-of-22) from the charity stripe. The Raiders out-rebounded the Crusaders 35-31 and committed just nine turnovers for the game.

Attendance:
Thanks to approximately 1,900 out of 2,000 students who attended the ESPN-U nationally televised Butler game that failed to show up for this one, the announced attendance for Sunday afternoon’s contest was just 3,736 — down about 2,800 from two nights before.

Postgame Audio

Battle Mays

Coach Donlon

Photos © and Courtesy of Tim G. Zechar

Raiders Drop Heartbreaker to Butler 63-62

By Mike Klingshirn

DAYTON, Ohio – The Wright State Raiders suffered a heartbreaking 63-62 defeat at the hands of the Butler Bulldogs in front of an ESPN-U television audience and 6,588 fans at the Nutter Center on Friday night. The victory moved Butler (9-7, 3-1 HL) into a six-way tie, atop of the early season Horizon League standings. The loss snapped Wright State’s four-game winning streak.

This contest had fans on the edge of their seats from start to finish. It was a classic, high intensity, Horizon League battle. Neither team was able to build more than a four point lead throughout the entire contest. The game saw twenty lead changes, and the score was tied 16 times.

Wright State (8-9, 3-2 HL) last led by four, 37-33 with 14:14 left to play. Butler then went on the only real run of the game, with a 10-2 spurt, putting them up 43-39 with 9:15 to play.

With the scored tied 54-54, Julius Mays, who scored eleven points over the final five minutes of the game, drained a three-pointer to give WSU a 57-54 advantage with 1:55 remaining. Butler’s 6-foot-11 Andrew Smith responded with a trey on his team’s next trip down the court, to even the score.

Mays then hit a pair of free throws to put WSU back on top 59-57 at 1:07. Twelve seconds later, Andrew Smith, who was just 7-of-24 for the season from behind the arc, nailed his second consecutive trey in a span of about 30 seconds, giving Butler the edge at 60-59 with under a minute left.

Mays missed a jumper on the ensuing possession. Butler’s Ronald Nored grabbed the rebound, was fouled, and hit both free throws to extend the Bulldog lead to 62-59 with 30.5 seconds to play.

John Balwigare attempted a trey from the right side, but was fouled with 21.6 seconds remaining. That sent him to the charity stripe with a chance to tie the game. With ice water in his veins, Balwigare calmly swished all three attempts, evening the score at 62.

With the shot clock off, Butler milked the game’s final seconds, until Nored drove down the right side of the lane. A blocking foul was called on Armond Battle, who couldn’t quite get into position to take the charge, sending Nored to the line for two free throws with 2.7 seconds left. Nored made the first shot to put the Bulldogs up by one point, but missed the second shot badly. The second missed shot was ruled an intentional miss by the officials, giving the Raiders the ball under Butlers’ basket.

Did Nored miss the free throw by design? “Yes, you’ve got to miss that,” said Butler head coach Brad Stevens. “They’re going to shoot a three, so it doesn’t matter if you’re up two or one. It’s a no-brainer to miss that. Just don’t foul on the rebound. If they try to score it from there, they’ve got a second, going in the wrong direction.”

With one last chance to score, Cole Darling inbounded a pass to Julius Mays, who drove the court and fired up a runner, twenty-five feet away at the buzzer. His shot appeared to have a chance, but it deflected off of the back of the iron, sending the Raiders to a crushing 63-62 defeat.

“I thought it was good,” said Mays. “When it hit the rim, I thought that it was going to stay in, but it rimmed out.”

Mays played a terrific game. He scored 24 points, hitting 6-of-9 from the field, including 2-of-2 from 3-point land. He connected on 10-of-11 from the charity stripe, grabbed seven rebounds, and did an outstanding job of guarding on defense.

It’s early in the year, but might Julius Mays be a Horizon League player of the year candidate? “Twenty-four (points), seven (rebounds) — it seems like he made every play at the end,” said Brad Stevens. “He’s on my short list. That’s for sure.”

Johann Mpondo and Reggie Arceneaux scored in double figures for the Raiders with 12 and 11 points respectively. Andrew Smith (19), Khyle Marshall (14), and Ronald Nored (11) led the way for the Bulldogs in scoring.

Butler was outstanding at finishing plays near the rim, while the Raiders were not. The Bulldogs outscored Wright State 38-20 in the paint. Although Butler hit just 3-of-16 shots from beyond the arc, they connected on 23-of-30 two-point attempts.

The Raiders shot 20-of-48 from the field (41.7 percent) and 16-of-19 from the line. Butler won the battle of the boards 28-25. The Bulldogs committed 21 turnovers to 18 for WSU.

Wright State returns to action Sunday afternoon for a 3:00 contest with Valparaiso.

Postgame Audio

WSU’s Mays and Mpondo

WSU’s Donlon

Butler’s Coach Stevens and Smith

Photos © and Courtesy of Tim G. Zechar