A parade of second half free-throws propelled the Wright State men’s basketball team to a victory over the Miami Redhawks Wednesday night at the Nutter Center.
The Raiders made 30-38 free throw attempts (27-33 in the second half) en route to a 67-59 victory, which extended WSU’s win streak to three games. WSU has now beaten Miami three years in a row.
With the score tied at 21 at halftime, WSU exploded for 46 points in the second half. Wright State head coach Billy Donlon credited his team for being aggressive.
“I’m proud of our guys because for the first 15 minutes of the second half we took the game to them,” Donlon said.
Two Raiders, Miles Dixon and Jerran Young, came off the bench and led WSU with 21 and 19 points, respectively, in what was otherwise a cold shooting night. The team shot only 34 percent from the floor.
WSU dominated Miami on the glass, and outrebounded the Redhawks 42-27. They grabbed 16 offensive rebounds, which led to 11 second chance points. Sophomore Tavares Sledge led all players with nine rebounds.
“He (Tavares) absolutely set a physical tone for our team,” Donlon said. “We felt like this was a game offensively we had to go to the offensive glass.”
“We go hard in practice,” Dixon said. “We work on rebounding a lot. It kept us in the game.”
WSU was aided by numerous technical fouls in the second half, which kept the Raiders at the charity stripe. Free-throw shooting allowed them to survive Miami’s second half run, which trimmed the lead down to two with 1:52 to play.
“We were in the bonus early in the second half so attacking the basket was our game plan,” Dixon said.
“We strive on that (free throws) every day in practice,” Young said. “Fifty free-throws after practice every day.”
The win improves the Raiders’ record to 8-3, and a perfect 4-0 record at home.
“It feels great to represent Wright State,” Dixon said. “We take pride in winning. I think all the guys are happy to become 8-3 today.”
Kendall Griffin, who was injured during last Saturday’s win at Hofstra, started the game after being labeled a game-time decision. But other players have some lumps and bruises that may need some healing before this Saturday when WSU plays at unbeaten Cincinnati.
Junior AJ Pacher, who has seen limited playing time in recent games, did not dress for Miami and Donlon said he will not play at Cincinnati.
Sophomore Reggie Arceneaux left the game in the second half after taking a hard fall to the ground and left the game holding his head and leaving blood on the court. Arceneaux has not yet been ruled out for Cincinnati.
That matchup against the eleventh ranked Bearcats (11-0) will tipoff at 4:00 p.m. this Saturday at Fifth Third Arena. The game can be seen live on Fox Sports Ohio.
