FAIRBORN — The Wright State men’s basketball team played strong to pick up a bounce-back win and hand Oakland its first Horizon League loss 89-73 Jan. 5.
WSU is now 8-9 and 2-2 while the Grizzlies go to 7-10 and 3-1.
WSU Coach Scott Nagy said, “Our plan was to throw it in, throw it in, throw it in and we were able to establish the offense. On defense, everyone dove on the floor and did whatever was needed to make the play. At halftime, we talked about how Oakland came back to beat Northern Kentucky the other night, so we needed to push it. This is one of the toughest places to play, and it means a lot to come in and win here. It will be a nice bus ride home.”
The Raiders, winners of four straight against Oakland, were led by Cole Gentry with 22 points as Loudon Love and Bill Wampler each pitched in 19. Mark Hughes added 17. It was Love’s seventh double-double of the season with 11 rebounds as Alan Vest grabbed seven boards. WSU hit 11 threes and shot 45% from behind the arc as the Raiders outrebounded the Grizzlies 38-27. The Raiders’ defense forced 18 OU turnovers.
In the first half the Grizzlies were the first to dent the scoreboard with a three, but the Raiders steamed back with seven points from Love, a dunk by Hughes and a three from Gentry by the first media timeout. Out of the break, Vest took a pass from Ernsthausen for a layup to go up 9-3. The Raiders continued to lead, going up 24-16 by the eight-minute break. OU crept closer to the Raiders down just three 30-27 at the final media timeout, but WSU ended the half strong to lead 40-29. Love and Hughes were tops with 11 points as Gentry added eight. Love and Alan Vest each had five rebounds.
WSU continued its strong play as they pulled away from the Grizzlies, up by as much as 23 points, outscoring the Grizzlies 49-44. Wampler collected 15 points in the final 20 minutes while Gentry had 14. The Raiders shot 55 percent from the field and 58 percent from three, hitting seven from behind the arc. WSU outrebounded Oakland 17-10, including seven offensive boards.
The Raiders will play at Northern Kentucky 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 11. NKU is now 12-4, 3-1 after winning at Detroit Mercy Saturday afternoon 95-73. The game will be shown on ESPN2.
