Wright State Raider Recap

The Wright State Raiders left Dayton on Wednesday looking for a sweep of their league foes in Wisconsin, a feat they  accomplished just a year ago.  Instead, the Raiders will return home Sunday with two more losses, coming at the hands of Milwaukee on Thursday and Green Bay on Saturday.  Wright State is now just 5-5 in the Horizon League and 13-12 overall, currently in the midst of a three game skid.

The team had a quick turnaround against Milwaukee (13-8) on January 30th, a squad they had beaten 73-57 at the Nutter Center just nine days earlier.  However, the

Mandatory Photo Credit: Tim G. Zechar

Panthers would dominate the majority of the game at the Klotsche Center, jumping out to an early 25-9 lead and leading by as many as 20 in the second half.  The Raiders would show some toughness down the stretch cutting the deficit to 66-64 with twelve seconds remaining, but failed to get over the hump in dropping a 68-64 decision at Milwaukee.

J.T. Yoho, who had just 1 point and was a dismal 0-6 in the first half, led all scorers with 20, netting 7 of 10 attempts in the second half.  Tavares Sledge and Jerran Young joined Yoho in double figures for the Raiders with 12 and 10 points respectively.  Milwaukee had five players in double figures, led by Aaron and Kelm with 13 points apiece.

Wright State’s Men would bus to Green Bay (18-4) on Friday looking to get back in the win column and give the league-leading Phoenix their second conference defeat.  The teams faced off on January 17th, a 79-69 loss for the Raiders, their only home loss of the season to date, and one which began their current tumble through the Horizon League standings.

Green Bay’s 7’1″ center Alec Brown was coming off a shoulder sprain and questionable for the game.  His minutes were limited, but he still contributed 6 points, 4 rebounds and 3 blocks, which  was enough for his team to outlast the Raiders 62-55 on ESPN2.  Wright State trailed most of the game, but they were able to put together a 13-0 run spanning from the end of the first half into the second, giving them a 34-29 lead.  Green Bay would put together an 11-0 run of their own, though, and the Raiders wouldn’t get any closer than they were at the 2:39 mark, closing the deficit to four.  Wright State’s last six losses have been by an average of 5 points.

Greg Mays of the Phoenix led all scorers with 22 points while Keifer Sykes kicked in 18; each had 6 rebounds.   J.T. Yoho again paced the Raiders with 15 points and 8 rebounds in 29 minutes.  Wright State’s offense continued to struggle offensively, only hitting 37.5% from the field, and only 5 of 9 at the charity stripe.

A Look Ahead:

The Raiders will return home from the road trip to host Youngstown State (13-10) Wednesday at 7pm, and Cleveland State (15-9) Saturday at 1pm.