Greene County News Report

FAIRBORN — The Wright State Raiders cruised to an 88-62 exhibition win over Cedarville on Wednesday, Nov. 2, but it wasn’t as easy or as pretty as the score may indicate.

WSU shot a sizzling 56 percent from the field in the first half – 7 of 10 from 3-point range – in building a 56-33 halftime lead, but new coach Scott Nagy wasn’t all that thrilled.

“The way we played offensively in the first half was a little bit of fool’s gold,” he said. “We took a lot of bad shots in the first half that went in. We’ve got to get that corrected.”

Wright State shot 24 percent in the second half and 40 percent overall, but a 16-point advantage at the free-throw line and had a 58-31 rebounding advantage to help make up for the cold second-half shooting.

The Yellow Jackets opened the second half with a 22-12 run to get as close as 68-55 with 8:45 to go. WSU responded with the next 10 points to put the game out of reach.

Wright State’s Justin Mitchell and Mark Alstork led all scorers with 28 points each. Mike LaTulip added 13 points. Grant Benzinger had 14 rebounds — 10 on the defensive end.

Cedarville got 13 points off the bench from Joey Morla and 10 from starter Easton Bazzoli.

“Thanks to Wright State, coach Nagy and his staff for playing us,” Cedarville Coach Pat Estepp said. “It was a good experience for us, albeit a frustrating first half. WSU came out on fire and we couldn’t get anything going on offense. Add to that the fact we weren’t getting back in transition defense, and getting hurt on the boards, and we got buried early.”

Wright State opens the regular season at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11, at Southern Illinois. Cedarville opens its regular season at 7:45 p.m. Friday at home against Truman State in the Don Callan Classic.

Photo courtesy Cedarville University Cedarville’s J.C. Faubion goes to dribble around a Wright State player during exhibition basketball action Wednesday at the Nutter Center.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/49/2016/11/web1_CU.jpgPhoto courtesy Cedarville University Cedarville’s J.C. Faubion goes to dribble around a Wright State player during exhibition basketball action Wednesday at the Nutter Center.

Photo courtesy Wright State University WSU’s Mark Alstork goes up for a shot against Cedarville Wednesday. He scored 18 points in the Raider win.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/49/2016/11/web1_WSU-PHOTO-2.jpgPhoto courtesy Wright State University WSU’s Mark Alstork goes up for a shot against Cedarville Wednesday. He scored 18 points in the Raider win.

Photo courtesy Wright State University New Wright State Coach Scott Nagy has a chat with Parker Ernsthausen Wednesday.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/49/2016/11/web1_WSU-photo.jpgPhoto courtesy Wright State University New Wright State Coach Scott Nagy has a chat with Parker Ernsthausen Wednesday.

Gazette news report compiled by Scott Halasz.