Raiders Falter At Home
By Adam Coyle
Wright State’s Men’s Basketball team entered its Friday night contest against Horizon League frontrunner Green Bay a perfect 9-0 at the Nutter Center, looking to make it ten. The Phoenix had different ideas though as they won a 79-69 decision at Wright State in front of 6,600 “white out” participants.
Green Bay center Alec Brown got his big scoring night going early with a layup 9 seconds into the game as the Phoenix jumped out to a 6-2 lead. The Raiders
Jan. 17, 2014 Green Bay 79, Wright State 69
took their only lead of the night at 21-19 on a Jerran Young posterization of NBA prospect Alec Brown with 8:33 to pay in the first period, landing a spot on “SportsCenter’s Top Ten”. The Phoenix then took a 10 point lead as they put together a 20-8 scoring run, before the Raiders scored the last 7 of the half to make it 39-36 Green Bay at the break.
Green Bay came out hot in the second half scoring 9 of the first 10 points to extend the lead to 48-37. The Raiders would eventually put together a 9-0 run to cut the defiit to 1 at 55-54 capped off by an AJ Pacher trey with 10:16 remaining. However, that was the closest they would get the rest of the way before Green Bay eventually won 79-69.
The Phoenix outscored the Raiders 44-32 in the paint, 14-4 off of second chance points, and 19-15 off of the bench, an area where Wright State usually excels with their depth. They also shot the ball at a better rate as they shot 59.6% for the game compared to 49.1% for the Raiders. Wright State had 5 players in double figures compared to four for the visitors, led by Reggie Arceneaux with 17 points. But great play by Keifer Sykes (18 points) and Alec Brown (24 points) proved to be too much for the Raider man to man defense.
With the win, Green Bay expanded their lead in the Horizon League, sitting atop the standings at 4-0 and 14-3 overall. Wright State is now tied for second with Valparaiso and Cleveland State, a team they will travel to on Sunday.
Up Next:
Wright State (11-9, 3-2) at Cleveland State (11-8, 3-2)
Sunday, January 19, 1 p.m.
Watch: Horizon League Network
Listen: Dayton’s BIG 106.5 FM