Backups come through for Raiders in time of need
FAIRBORN — Wright State had two starters foul out at Cleveland State on Thursday, and its top sub was sick and couldn’t play.
Coach Scott Nagy had no choice but to dip into his reserve corps. And he was bracing for some hairy moments when he called on that trio in such a crucial game.
Drey Carter and Logan Woods are redshirt freshmen, and Kaden Brown is a true freshman. But all three played like polished veterans in a 107-99 overtime win.
“If it wasn’t for those guys, we’d have been down 20 in the first half. They saved us,” said Nagy, whose team trailed, 48-36, at the break.
“For whatever reason, our guys were not very sharp. And (the subs) came off the bench and gave us what we needed.”
Brown had seven points in 19 minutes, Carter six in 21 and Woods five in 17.
That made up for the absence of the ailing Andrew Welage and foul-plagued nights for Brandon Noel and
A.J. Braun.
“Those guys fouled out, and the significant minutes the freshmen played late and
in overtime was incredible,” Nagy said.
“It should give them so much confidence and help with the depth of our bench. It gives the coaches confidence in them.”
The Raiders, who jumped 13 spots to 143rd in the NET ratings with the win, need as many high performers as they can muster with the Horizon League race at the
halfway point.
They’re 11-10 overall and 6-4 in the league. They have some ground to make up on the leaders, but every team has at least three conference losses.
That’s why the road win over the Vikings, picked fourth in the preseason poll, was co critical.
“I think for anybody, when you can go on the road against
one of the top teams and win, you almost feel like you steal one that other people aren’t going to get,” Nagy said.
As for the bunched-up standings, he added: “I’ve talked about this almost every year: It’ll stretch out. It always does.”
The Raiders, who were picked third in the poll, face lowly IUPUI on the road at noon today.
They won the first meeting, 103-74, and the Jaguars are 6-16 overall, 2-9 in the league and 359th out of 362 teams in the NET ratings.
But that hasn’t kept Nagy from fretting.
“I worry about EVERYBODY. We don’t treat them any differently, We know they have good players,” he said.
Junior guard Jlynn Counter is 10th in the league in scoring at 15 points per game, but youthful IUPUI has made only modest improvements since going 5-27 and 3-26 the last two years.
“It’s always hard when you come off a win — when you’re feeling better about yourself — to get guys reeled back in. We’ve got to handle success with humility,” Nagy said.
“I don’t even know who we play after IUPUI. I’m locked in.”