Purple Aces turn the Raiders blueFebruary 24, 2013By Mike Klingshirn DAYTON, Ohio – The Wright State Raiders ventured outside of league play on Saturday afternoon, only to suffer one of their worst defeats of the season, at the hands of the Evansville Purple Aces from the Missouri Valley Conference, by a final score of 70-58. An impressive contingent of a few hundred Evansville fans made the trip to the NutterCenter, helping to lift the number in the house to 3,428. The Raiders (18-10, 9-5 HL) were without the services of their top two scorers (Reggie Arceneaux and Cole Darling) for the second consecutive game due to injury. Freshman J.T. Yoho did his best to help fill the void by recording his first double-double, scoring twenty points and pulling down eleven rebounds … both career highs. Unfortunately for WrightState, he was one of the few bright spots for his team. Evansville (16-13, 8-8 MVC) opened the contest by scoring the game’s first nine points, and the Raiders got no closer than five all afternoon long. “We were absolutely hammered,” said WrightState head coach Billy Donlon. “Sometimes you’re the hammer, and sometimes you’re the nail. Today we were the nail.” The Aces scored early and often, bolting to a 17-3 lead, just five and a half minutes into the contest. By that time, coach Donlon had already burned two time-outs in an effort to help stem the tide. “In those time-outs, I thought that we were getting ready to be run out of here. I felt that we were getting ready to be beat by forty,” Donlon said. “I never call two time-outs in the first five minutes of a game. It wasn’t their motion (offense). It was transition basketball. They (Evansville) just blew it up the floor. They blew by us on one pass in the half court. That’s not motion. We didn’t guard our guard very well.” It wasn’t until the 11:59 mark of the first half that WrightState sank their first field goal. That came on a Jerran Young put-back off of a missed Matt Vest shot attempt from beyond the arc to make the score 17-5. Down 21-7, the Raiders went on a 9-0 run to pull within 21-16, but the Aces countered with an 8-0 run of their own, to push the margin back to 29-16 with 6:11 before halftime. Yoho kept his team within sight of the Aces with a hot shooting hand by scoring eight points over the next six minutes. He had 16 points, in all, before halftime. Still, the Raiders trailed 39-28 at the intermission. WrightState drew to within 41-36, but six unanswered points by the Aces put Evansville comfortably back on top 47-36 with 15:23 left to play. From there, the Aces maintained a double-digit lead for all but a few seconds over the remainder of the contest. Evansville stretched their lead to 70-52, before the Raiders scored the game’s final six points. “You have to be so mentally tough when you play a motion team,” Donlon said. “And I just didn’t think that we were there tonight.” WSU was led in scoring by Yoho (20), Young (11), and Kendall Griffin (10). Matt Vest contributed with six rebounds and five assists. WrightState returns to Horizon League action on Tuesday evening at UIC.
Injury Updates:Reggie Arceneaux (concussion) is hopeful for Tuesday. It is still being determined if or when Cole Darling (foot) will be back.
Box Score
Post Game AudioPhotos © and Courtesy of Tim G. Zechar
#23 drops 23 for WSU but Valpo drops WSU 68-61February 13, 2013AJ Pacher stepped up big for WSU Tuesday night against Valpo with 7 points in 12 minutes of first half play and 23 points in 24 total game minutes. Along with 6 rounds, 3 assists and steal, that is one impressive line in the box score. Unfortunately, it was not enough to overcome the power game of Valpo as the Raiders fall to 17-9 (8-5). It was quite the night in the Nutter Center as at least one of the men in stripes appeared to have chip on his shoulder before the game even started. He allegedly was overheard complaining about the hostile crowds he had to deal with. Given that several students and a platinum seat holder were threatened during the game and a former WSU Board of Trustee was ejected from the game, I’d say someone got up on the wrong side of the bed yesterday. This ejected fan reportedly said something about the “pathetic officiating” but nothing vulgar or personal were part of the comments. The officials did not impact the game’s outcome but they made themselves visible which is not what a quality crew does; officials should essentially go unnoticed as they do their job. The Raider bench scored 45 of WSU’s 68 points (Pacher 23, Dixon 13 and Arceneauz 9) while the starting five struggled with 6-19 shooting (31%). As a team WSU shot 41% while Valpo shot 49% for the contest. Both teams struggled behind the arc shooting around 24%. After playing 4 games in nine days last night, the Raiders are off until Feb 20 when the travel to Cleveland. Then up is the Bracketbuster game against Evansville on Feb. 23, and finally, the last regular season home game against Youngstown on March 2.
Box Score
Post Game AudioValpo Coach and Kevin Van_Wijk
Photos © and Courtesy of Tim G. Zechar
Raiders fall 83-76 to the Titans Wednesday nightJanuary 31, 2013Raiders drop third straight game and 4th in last five games. Wright State (14-8, 5-4 Horizon) is off until Monday, February 4, when the Raiders host Loyola at 7:00. Post game AudioBox Score
Photos © and Courtesy of Tim G. Zechar
UIC Flames turn out the lights on Blackout Night: Raiders fall 55-49January 27, 2013By Mike Klingshirn DAYTON, Ohio – Saturday evening was Blackout Night at the Nutter Center. The Wright State Raiders, playing on their home court, wore black uniforms and the first 5,000 fans that entered the turnstiles received black t-shirts to wear. It was also Homecoming weekend on campus, so a larger than normal crowd of 8,065 filled the place — double the size of WSU’s largest crowd in nine home dates this season. Prior to tip-off, Blackout Night seemed like a festive occasion, unless of course, you are superstitious. One would be hard pressed to remember a good performance by any Raider team that played in those black uniforms. Tonight was no exception, as the Wright State Raiders suffered their first home loss of the season to the UIC Flames 55-49. Maybe the Great Rowdy Raider in the sky frowns upon the black uniforms, because after all, green and gold are Wright State’s official colors. “Burn them,” said WSU radio color analyst Bob Grote following the game. “We have never won in those things.” The game began well enough for the Raiders (14-7, 5-3 HL). After a JT Yoho 3-pointer put Wright State on top 8-4, UIC proceeded to rattle off runs of 11-straight and 9-straight points, sandwiched around a Tavares Sledge field goal to give the Flames a commanding 24-10 lead with six minutes left in the first half. UIC (13-8, 4-4 HL) played a zone defense and WSU was unable to shoot over it. Wright State played as poorly offensively as they could play, missing a lot of open shots, and hitting just 5-of-21 first half attempts. As a result, the Raiders found themselves on the wrong end of a 26-14 halftime score. After UIC’s Josh Crittle began the second half by hitting a jumper to put the Flames ahead by a score of 28-14, Wright State went on a 12-2 run to pull to within 30-26 with 13:06 left to play. A Cole Darling layup narrowed the gap to 38-36 at the 5:25 mark, but UIC was able to push their lead back to 48-41. JT Yoho drained a three-pointer with 39 seconds left to play to make it 49-46, but UIC broke the Raider press on the ensuing in-bounds play for an easy layup by Crittle, which helped seal the 55-49 UIC victory. Darling led the Raiders in scoring with 11 points on 5-of-15 shooting. Matt Vest hauled down nine rebounds and dished out four of the six Raider assists in the game. WSU shot just 33-percent from the field for the game (18-of-54), and an ice-cold 2-of-19 from beyond the arc. The loss was Wright State’s second straight defeat — both in the black uniforms — after beginning the season 14-5. The team had just returned home in the wee hours of Thursday morning following a brutal 3-game/5-day road trip. “They’ve got to get their confidence back,” Donlon said. “We haven’t been able to practice. With four games in eight days, you don’t practice. In between days, you’re resting. Hopefully we’ll get a chance to get a practice in.”
Post Game Audio
Box Score
Photos © and Courtesy of Tim G. Zechar
Raiders beat by Titans in final regular season home gameFebruary 16, 2012Johann Mpondo, the lone senior was honored tonight in front of an announced crowd of 3565. The Raiders started slow but played aggressively and took a 5 point lead (33-28) late in the first half. The Titans however went on a tear to finish the last 3 and ½ minutes to take a 40-33 lead into the locker room. Both teams shot well in the first half – WSU 50% and UDM 57%. Free throws were even at 83% (both 10-12). Likewise, turnovers were even at 8 each. Julius led the Raiders with 12 points followed by Battle with 7 and Arceneaux with 6. Detroit’s Holman dominated the paint in the first half and scored 10 points. Then the second half begins and the Raiders go stone cold – 25% from the field (1-5 behind the arc). Julius Mays had 12 at the half and scored a mere 4 points in the second. Again, the WSU Raiders showed their multiple personality disorder from one period to the next (not to mention from one game to the next) although the Titans did noticeably turn up the defensive pressure on the Raiders in the second half. Mays and Battle were the double figures scorers for WSU while UDM had four in double figures. UDM dominated the paint points 20-10 thanks to Eli Holman who had a double-double (12 points & 10 boards). Similarly, UDM used their height advantage on the glass, outrebounding WSU 35-22. It was a sloppy game by both squads – UDM had 16 turnovers and WSU had 15. UDM scored 19 points off WSU’s miscues while WSU scored 14 off UDM’s. It was a tough way to close out the home portion of the WSU home season as the record now stands at 12-16 (7-9). The Raiders are 8th in the Horizon League standings. Coach Donlin and Johann Mpondo spoke briefly after the game, thanking family friends and supporters. Next up for WSU is the annual BracketBuster game on Saturday at 5pm at UMKC. Postgame Audio Photos © and Courtesy of Tim G. Zechar
Phoenix top Raiders 53-48, earn first road victory of seasonFebruary 11, 2012By Mike Klingshirn DAYTON, Ohio – The Green Bay Phoenix, previously winless in eleven tries away from home, demoralized a Wright State Raider team by the final score of 53-48 on Friday night at the Nutter Center. Green Bay’s victory moves them into seventh place in the Horizon League standings, alongside Wright State with identical records of 6-8. However, by virtue of two victories in two attempts against the Raiders, the Phoenix currently hold the tie-breaker for the league tournament’s seventh-seed, with four league battles remaining. Wright State (11-15, 6-8 HL) hoped to gain revenge for an earlier loss to Green Bay (10-13, 6-8) back on January 14. In that loss, the Raiders blew a 17-point lead with just over 13 minutes to play. This defeat was a crushing blow to the Raiders. Holding his head in both hands, a somber Julius Mays said, “This one hurt bad. We gave that game away at Green Bay. Then we came here, on our home court, in front of our own fans, and didn’t fight long enough to pull it out.” Sloppy play and cold shooting hampered both teams early on, but the Phoenix held the upper hand with a 10-7 lead, until Reggie Arceneaux drained a three-pointer with 8:31 remaining in the half, to spark a 7-0 run that gave Wright State their first lead of the night at 14-10. Green Bay quickly evened the score at 14 at the 6:01 mark. Both teams continued to battle toe-to-toe over the remainder of the half, with Wright State coming away with a 24-23 halftime advantage. The Raiders and Phoenix continued to grind away in the second half. Neither team was able to gain more than a four-point advantage over the next fifteen minutes that saw seven lead changes. A pair of Vance Hall free throws put the Raiders on top 44-43 with 5:02 to play. However, a layup by Green Bay freshman Keifer Sykes — the hero who sank a pair of game-winning free throws with three seconds remaining in the season’s previous game — gave his team the lead for good at 45-44, hitting a layup with 4:05 remaining. “Keifer Sykes was the best player on the floor,” said Wright State head coach Billy Donlon. “He willed his team to a win. Every time that they needed a basket, he found a way to get one — either from himself or a teammate. And that’s the story of the game.” The Raiders had plenty of chances to pull out a victory over the game’s final minutes, but failed to make plays when they needed them most. Trailing 49-48, Wright State forced Green Bay into a missed shot, but failed to haul down the defensive rebound with 15 seconds to play. Kam Cerroni was fouled and hit both free throw attempts, extending the Phoenix lead to 51-48. With ten seconds remaining and one last chance for WSU to tie the game, Reggie Arceneaux took the inbound pass, hurriedly drove the right baseline, but lost control of his dribble near the Raider bench. The ball went out of bounds, last touched by Arceneaux with seven seconds left. Cerroni was fouled again and hit two more free throws, sealing Green Bay’s first victory away from the Resch Center in twelve attempts this season by a final score of 53-48 — the largest point differential of the entire contest. “I’m very disappointed in the last three minutes of the game,” Donlon said. “They beat us to every fifty-fifty ball. It came down to effort plays.” “That Wright State passion and toughness is not here right now,” he continued. “And we’re going to find out what our team is made of down the stretch.” Johann Mpondo and Reggie Arceneaux led Wright State in scoring with twelve points apiece. Mpondo and Vance Hall pulled down a team-high of five rebounds each. The Phoenix won the battle of the boards 38-25, including 14 rebounds on their offensive end of the floor. Green Bay’s 7-foot-1 sophomore center, Alec Brown, recorded a double-double, leading the Phoenix in scoring with 14 points. Brown, the school’s all-time leader in blocked shots, with 134 entering the game, added three more to his total. He also grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds. In two contests this season against Wright State, Brown has swatted 14 Raider shots and grabbed 19 rebounds. Postgame Audio Photos © and Courtesy of Tim G. Zechar Do not download without express written permission
Raiders Drop Heartbreaker to Butler 63-62January 7, 2012By 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 Butler’s Coach Stevens and Smith Photos © and Courtesy of Tim G. Zechar
Bearcats spank Raiders 78-58December 15, 2011The crowd of 5977 was buzzing in anticipation of the nationally broadcast game (ESPN2) between the two teams separated by a few short miles of I-75. The Bearcats were in their first game since the unfortunate incident (fight) at the end of the Crosstown Shootout with Xavier. While shorthanded after several suspensions, the Bearcats left no doubt who was the quicker, stronger and more talented team. The Raiders jumped out to an early 2-0 lead but a 3 by UC’s Kilpatrick 27 seconds later would erase the only WSU lead in this game. Wright State would not score again for 4 minutes while UC rattled off 14 points to make it 17-4 UC. The Raiders were simply outmanned in this game and would go into the locker at half down 43-22. UC shot 57% (and an incredible 9-20 from behind the arc) in the first 20 minutes compared to WSU’s 40%. Sean Kilpatrick would have 17 at the half. Rebounds were even at 14 but WSU’s 9 turnovers resulted in 11 points for UC. Wright State opened the second half with a 5-0 spurt in the first 74 seconds before UC got the offense going again and put this game away. The Raiders appeared to settle down in the second half. Their shooting percentage increased to 54% while shooting 83% at the free throw line (10-12). Turnovers in the second 20 minutes were cut to 4 while forcing 9 by UC. UC dominated the boards in the 2nd half and ended the game with a 31-22 edge. The Bearcats took advantage of this rebounding edge scoring 23 second chance points to WSU’s 2! UC’s five starters would all score in double digits. Pacher, Hall and Balwigaire would score 11, 10 and 11 respectively for WSU. UC improved to 6-3 while WSU dropped to 4-7 and will face Ohio on Saturday at 7pm. Readers should listen to the post game comments from UC’s Coach Cronin about the future of this game. Postgame Audio UC’s Coach Cronin and players Kilpatrick & Wright Photos © and Courtesy of Tim G. Zechar
Charlotte 49ers Outlast the Raiders 70-66November 27, 2011By Mike Klingshirn Dayton, OH – The Charlotte 49ers took advantage of a physically superior effort — especially near the basket — to outlast the Wright State Raiders in a hard fought 70-66 victory in front of a crowd of 2,993 on Saturday night at the Nutter Center. Afterwards, Wright State head coach Billy Donlon was not happy with his team’s play inside. “We played soft around the rim,” Donlon said. “Charlotte played physical. We’re missing way too many shots around the rim, and not even getting fouls on contact. That’s an issue.” The 49ers (3-2) opened the game by scoring the first seven points in a contest that they never trailed. The Raiders (2-4) saw themselves looking at the wrong end of a 21-9 score at the 5:21 mark, thanks to starting the game with some ice cold 3-of-20 field goal shooting. The Wright State offense woke up at that point, and went on a 10-0 run, capped by a pair of 3-pointers from AJ Pacher and John Balwigare — both coming from identical spots on the left side of the arc. That pulled WSU to within 21-19 at 3:20 left in the half. After a miserable first fifteen minutes of play, the Raiders were fortunate to head into the locker room, trailing by just two points at 28-26. Wright State’s shooting woes continued following the intermission. That, combined with some poor defensive play, allowed Charlotte to stretch their lead to 43-33 with 12:45 left to play. “I’m not happy with the start of the game,” Donlon said. “But that’s not why we lost the game. It’s a two point game at the half, and they score on 67-percent of their (second half) shots. We didn’t guard and we didn’t play with urgency.” Julius Mays did his best to keep the Raiders in contention. He nailed three straight 3-point attempts, and poured in 16 points over the remainder of the contest. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. A Tavares Sledge jumper pulled the Raiders to within 62-60 with 2:33 to play, but the 49ers held off the Raiders by sinking 8-of-10 free throw attempts down the stretch, to hold on for the 70-66 victory. Charlotte’s physical play was too much for the Green and Gold. The three Wright State big men (Mpondo, Pacher, Sledge) combined for 9 points, 7 rebounds, and 13 personal fouls, in 41 minutes of combined play. “He (Charlotte’s Chris Braswell) basically fouled three centers out,” Donlon said. “We had opportunities to attack him back at the other end, and we didn’t finish plays.” Charlotte won the battle of the boards 34-29 and outscored Wright State 30-20 in the paint. Julius Mays led the Raiders in scoring with 25 points. Cole Darling added 12. Career Highs: Charlotte’s Chris Braswell matched his career high with 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field, and 8-of-11 from the foul line. Postgame Audio Photos © and Courtesy of Tim G. Zechar
Central State Drops 56-50 Bombshell on RaidersNovember 6, 2011By Mike Klingshirn Dayton, OH – A hungry and aggressive Central State Marauder basketball team surprised the Wright State Raiders with a stunning 56-50 defeat in exhibition play at the Nutter Center on Saturday night. The Marauders scored the game’s first seven points, and opened a 14-2 advantage, eight minutes into the game. The Raiders, meanwhile, did not appear ready for the fight and never posed a real threat. Central State, in firm command from start to finish, led throughout the entire contest. The cold-shooting Raiders connected on just 6-of-23 shots and committed 13 turnovers prior to the intermission. The Green and Gold closed the gap to 25-18 by halftime, but the Marauders maintained a near double-digit lead for most of the second half. Wright State got no closer than four points with only about a minute left to play. Central State crashed the glass, and out-rebounded the Raiders by a startling 48-22. The Green and Gold finished the game, hitting 17-of-50 (34%) from the field, and just 2-of-17 from beyond the arc. Armond Battle and Julius Mays led the Raiders in scoring with twelve points apiece. Johann Mpondo pulled down 9 of Wright State’s 22 rebounds. Were there any positives for the Raiders? “Our first shot defense was tremendous,” said Wright State head coach Billy Donlon. “Our rotation and help were very good. But the biggest part of defense is securing the rebound. Your defensive possession doesn’t end until you get the rebound.” The Raiders hope to shake-off this disappointing defeat before they battle the Ohio State Buckeyes, the third-ranked team in the nation, on Friday night November 11. Tip-off is set for 9:00. Postgame press conference audio Coach Donlon on CSU exhibition game
Photos © and Courtesy of Tim G. Zechar
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