Raiders fall on the road
DETROIT – Another road game, another disappointing result. After winning four in a row at home over the holidays, the Raiders continued their road woes with a 58-53 loss at Detroit Saturday.
The Raiders fall to 0-8 on the road and 1-1 in league play.
Wright State was led by Chrishawn Hopkins and AJ Pacherwho both had 11.
Hopkins was searching for answers after the latest road loss for WSU.
“I have no idea, we should have had the game,” Hopkins said. “We made a couple mistakes late in the game that unfortunately that cost us the game. We had the lead of six and we got comfortable and blew the lead.”
Wright State led by six midway through the second half but missed shots allowed Detroit to go on a 15-2 run. The Raiders tried to rally with points from Hopkins and Pacherto tie the game at 51.
The Titans responded with a 7-0 run in the final minutes to close out the game in front of the home crowd of 2,735.
“We still could have won the game despite missing those looks and it is because we relaxed and played the scoreboard,” Wright State head coach Billy Donlon said. “When the scoreboard wasn’t in our direction, we turned it up. When the scoreboard got in our direction, we relaxed and that is something we’ll work on.”
Wright State trailed by two at halftime. The Detroit lead grew to seven seconds later.
Wright State then went 10:15 without allowing a field goal and went on a 13-2 run. And then Detroit responded with a 15-2 run of its own.
“It doesn’t matter if it is home or away, you have to get the job done in the final couple of minutes,” Pacher said. “We weren’t able to do that today.”
The Titans’ leading scorer Juwan Howard Jr. was held to 2-for-11 shooting and scored just nine points in 37 minutes of action. Donlon credited the defensive play of Matt Vest following the game.
“Matt Vest was ready,” Donlon said. “Matt Vest has had an incredible season. I hope that we can get the other guys, and I say this respectfully, I hope we can get guys to play at the level Matt Vest has played.
The Raiders were without guard Kendall Griffin as he sat on the bench in street clothes. Donlon said his status is day-to-day as he is dealing with a couple issues.
WSU returns to action Friday at Valparaiso.
