Raiders beat by Titans in final regular season home game

Johann 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

Donlon’s Opening Comments

Johann Mpondo

Donlon’s Closing Comments

Photos © and Courtesy of Tim G. Zechar

Raiders upset Panthers behind Cole Darling’s career-high 70-46

By Mike Klingshirn

DAYTON, Ohio – Cole Darling poured in a career-high 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Wright State Raiders past the Milwaukee Panthers by a score of 70-46 on Sunday afternoon at the Nutter Center.

Reggie Arceneaux (14), Vance Hall (13), and Julius Mays (12) also scored in double figures for the Raiders.

Wright State (12-15, 7-8 HL) delivered their best forty-minute effort all year, shooting a blistering 57-percent from the floor (24-of-42), including 7-of-10 from behind the arc. They were also impressive from the charity stripe, connecting on 15-of-17 attempts.

“We were an aggressive team tonight…at every position,” said Wright State head coach Billy Donlon. “Hopefully, this isn’t a one-time deal.”

With the game knotted at seven apiece, Cole Darling ignited an 11-1 Raider run by hitting three field goals and a pair of free throws for eight points, giving Wright State an 18-8 lead with 7:32 remaining in the half.

The Green and Gold defense locked down on Milwaukee (15-12, 8-7), holding the Panthers to just 26-percent shooting from the field (7-of-27) in the game’s opening twenty minutes.

WSU maintained a five to ten point lead, throughout the remainder of the first stanza. Milwaukee’s Kaylon Williams drained a 3-pointer as the halftime buzzer sounded, to narrow the margin, and send both teams into their respective locker rooms with the Raiders holding an impressive 29-22 advantage.

Wright State wasted little time putting the Panthers away after a prolonged twenty-minute halftime break. They opened first five minutes of the second half with a 12-1 run to extend their lead to 41-23. WSU stretched their advantage to 48-27 with 11:46 left on a Cole Darling tip-in of a missed shot.

Milwaukee got no closer than 16 points (48-32 and 50-34). The Raiders continued their assault on the Panthers, before eventually coming away with an impressive 70-46 victory.

Darling’s 21 points in the game shattered his previous career-high of 13, set in February of last season at home against Cleveland State.

What was Darling doing well? “Moving…pace,” Donlon said. “You can’t cut slowly and expect to make shots when you have athletes flying at you. You have to move hard, and get into your shots and drives quicker, and use the athleticism of other players against them by driving them. Then they’ll close out a little shorter and you’ll make shots. That was the big thing for him.”

Wright State returns to action on Wednesday night (Feb. 15) against the Detroit Titans for their final regular season home game of the year. It will also be the final home game in the career of senior Raider Johann Mpondo. A postgame ceremony honoring Johann will be held at center court, following the game.

“With this being Johann’s senior year, we can’t end our last home games on a negative streak,” said Cole Darling. “We want to end his season and career right.”

Postgame Audio

Darling, Hall and Arceneaux

Coach Donlon

Photos © and Courtesy of Tim G. Zechar

Phoenix top Raiders 53-48, earn first road victory of season

By 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

Coach Donlon

Mays and Mpondo

Photos © and Courtesy of Tim G. Zechar

Do not download without express written permission

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

Raiders Ride a Solid Forty Minutes to a 60-42 Victory over Central Michigan

By Mike Klingshirn

DAYTON, Ohio – The Wright State Raiders turned in their most complete effort of the season on Thursday night to come away with a 60-42 victory over the Central Michigan Chippewas (5-8).

The just concluded four-game homestand began with two resounding defeats to Cincinnati and Ohio University by a combined total of 48 points, but ended on a high note and reason for optimism, with victories over Idaho and CMU.

“I feel that we’re getting into a rhythm as a team,” said Vance Hall. “We’re starting to put things together.”

The Raiders (6-8, 1-1 HL) fell behind by seven points after the first six minutes of play, due in large part to one of Wright State’s all too familiar slow offensive starts. However, a rare five-point trip down the court provided the spark that started the Green and Gold engine.

Trailing 10-3, Vance Hall drained a three-pointer from behind the arc in the right wing. Hall was fouled after the shot, and the Raiders retained possession of the ball, with an inbound possession along the baseline from that spot. Reggie Arceneaux quickly hit a jumper ten feet directly in front of the hoop, drawing Wright State to within 10-8 with 13:15 remaining in the half.

A pair of jumpers by Hall and Arceneaux completed a 9-0 run, giving WSU their first lead of the night at 12-10. Central Michigan reclaimed the lead 19-17 at the 7:34 mark, but a Cole Darling trey on the next possession ignited a 15-1 Raider run, catapulting Wright State to a 32-20 advantage and a 32-23 halftime lead.

A steady dose of excellent all-around play and a 25-12 run over the first fifteen minutes of the second half provided Wright State with their largest lead of the game at 57-35 with 4:47 to play. Vance Hall capped-off the Raider scoring for the night by hitting another trey with 1:32 remaining, sending his team to victory by a final score of 60-42.

Hall played with outstanding toughness. He led the Raiders with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. Julius Mays (12) and Reggie Arceneaux (11) also scored in double figures.

“He (Hall) brings a lot to the table,” said Wright State head coach Billy Donlon. “He’s a fearless kid. There is no back down with Vance Hall. He has the intangibles that are hard to find, and the other players on our team rally around it.”

Central Michigan outscored the Raiders 24-10 in the paint, while Wright State held the edge in points off of turnovers (26-8) and bench scoring (23-8). Both teams pulled down 32 rebounds.

Tonight’s contest marked the end of non-conference competition, with the exception of a BracketBuster game in mid-February. How did the non-conference schedule prepare WSU for Horizon League play, which begins in one week at Loyola of Chicago?

“They’re going to be tested in the league,” Donlon said. “But you’re not going to be any more tested than playing at Ohio State, at Florida on a neutral site, against Cincinnati at home, going to Air Force and getting your butt beat, then having come back to play at Miami of Ohio, winning a big game in overtime against Idaho, then two days later (just like in the league) having to play a good Central Michigan team. If you’re trying to get your young guys better, there is no better way to do it in my opinion.”

Postgame Audio

Mays and Hall

Coach Donlon

Photos © and Courtesy of Tim G. Zechar