Raiders get defensive in turning aside winless Green Bay
With offffffffffffense in a funk, Wright State keeps Phoenix from rising.
FAIRBORN — There’s a reason Wright State coach Scott Nagy hasmade defense and rebounding the pillars of his program.
Offffffffffffense comes and goes. And teams have seldom won championships basing their fortunes on something so fifickle.
That was apparent in a 67-53 Horizon League victory Saturday over winless Green Bay. Wright State started 3 of 18 fromthe fifield and finished the first half 11 of 35 (31.4%).
Normally strong from 3, even that was an adventure (1 of 8).
But the Raiders had a 23-21 lead because the defense never waned. The visitors struggled for open looks and went 9 of 31 (29%) in the fifirst half and 23 of 60 (38.3%) for the day.
“Iwas proudof our guys at halftime,” Nagy said. “Offffffffffffensively, we were playing about as bad as
we could play, andwewere ahead by two. I told them, ‘ That’s something to feel good about.’
“But their body language was bad. Theywere hanging their head. It’s just unfortunate that, for so many guys, it’s all aboutwhether or not offensively they’re playing well and then they’ll feel good about themselves.”
Some players may still be in the process of fully embracing the Nagy way. In the last three games, the Raiders shot 58.0, 58.5 and 55.2% from the floor.
“It’s no different than anyone else I’ve had. You just have to fighthumannature,” Nagysaid.“Butthereasonwe won the gamewas because, in the first half, when we were so bad offensively, we were good defensively.”
The Raiders ( 5- 1, 3- 0) finished 29 of 66 from the field (43.9%) and had a 47-30 rebounding edge while notching their fifth straight win.
Jaylon Hall — who has quietly become the Raiders’ most reliable deep threat (he was 41.2% on 3s going into the game) — opened the second half with a trey and swished anotherwith 12minutes to go for a 42-38 lead.
Tim Finke, who played two minutes in two games last weekend because of a concussion, hit another 3 on the next possession.
And after an exchange of baskets, Hall had a steal and break-away dunk for a 49-40 advantage.
Short-handed Green Bay (0-7, 0-3) — which was playing without its co-leader in scoring inJoshJefferson, who missed the game for undisclosed reasons — trailed, 37-36, with 13:30 to go but was outscored, 14-6, over the next six minutes and never recovered.
Phoenixsophomore guard Amari Davis, a former Trotwood-Madison star, scored on a drive at 18: 20 of the first half and also picked up a quick 3. But while he finished with a team-high 13 points (about two belowhis average), he went 6 of 16 from the floor and 0 of 2 on foul shots.
“More thananyother team I’ve been on, I feel like this could be a really good team defensively,” Hall said. “We didn’tworry toomuch about our offense. We knewifwe’d stick with it on the defensive end, we’d be all right.”
Star center Loudon Love, who is fifth in the nation in rebounding with a 12.2 average, had 12 in the first half alone. He finished with 17 points and 14 boards.
Backup center Grant Basile, who was 3 of 21 on 3s as a freshman last season, made the Raiders’ lone trey in the first half and is 5 of 10 this year. He notched 11 points and eight rebounds.
Tanner Holden, who seldom seems to have a bad game, led all scorers with 18 points (on 8-of-12 shooting) and 10 rebounds, while Hall added 12 points.
“Tanner just has a great feel and a great motor,” Nagy said. “If youwereonthesidelines in the huddles, you’d see he probably has a bigger voice than anybody.
“He tries to keep people up. He’s encouraging. He talks probably more than anybody on our team. He’s become a really good leader for us.”