It is always nice to start the season with a signature win. Wright State won arguably its biggest nonconference game in years Friday night in a 73-70 victory Friday night in the Nutter Center.
In a tight battle against one of the top mid-major programs in the nation, you can go up and down the lineup and pick out good performances. But a few performances stood out:
Grant Benzinger
On paper, Benzinger had a sub-par game. He went 3-for-12 from the field and 0-for-2 from the line but what he did at the end of the game was nothing shot of amazing.
He had a huge steal off a pass into the post that allowed WSU to take the lead on its ensuing possession. On Belmont’s next possession, he went mano y mano on Evan Bradds, the local phenom who nearly carried his team against his hometown squad. Benzinger took the charge from the much larger Bradds with 10 seconds left.
“I closed my eyes hoping it wasn’t a block,” Benzinger said.
Ballgame.
Benzinger took open shots, moved the ball well, and played 33 minutes with no turnovers. The kid is alright.
“I was expecting 10 (minutes), maybe single digits,” Bengziner said. “But 33, I am really happy (the coaches) had faith in me and I performed even though I shot terrible.”
Kendall Griffin
If there is an award for the most unlucky basketball player, Griffin would be an easy nominee. Griffin was his usual defensive self for the first 15 minutes of the ballgame. But Griffin added an offensive dynamic that we have not seen much out of him in years past. He drove the lane and looked every bit as good offensively as he did defensively.
And then he took his second foul and he just stood there. Something did not look right. Griffin went back to the locker room to be evaluated for a head injury. WSU head coach Billy Donlon was not sure what Griffin’s status was as of the postgame press conference.
“What Kendall Griffin did in the first half gave us an opportunity to win the game,” Donlon said. “His drive, his physicality, his layups at the rim, his defense on Bradds in the first half. He was as good as anyone in the second half.”
Griffin suffered from three concussions last season. He missed the last 10 games of the year as trainers decided to shut his season down. After three concussions in the last calendar year, even if Griffin did not have a concussion, there is no question that Griffin and the trainers were going to take every precaution. Griffin has a bright future ahead of him as a possible lawyer, no need to jeopardize it.
One possible good sign was Griffin was standing in the tunnel at the end of the game watching fully in uniform. Perhaps he would have been able to re-enter if the game went to overtime? I am sure we’ll know more Sunday.
But for Donlon, watching Griffin walk off the court was a gut-wrenching moment.
“No one will come here and play harder than Kendall Griffin. He is the No. 1 example of what a student-athlete is,” Donlon said.
Michael Karena
I was very impressed with the improvement Michael Karena showed from the exhibition game. His baby hook shot is going to be tough to defend. His challenge is going to be staying out of foul trouble. He racked up five fouls in 15 minutes. That has to improve.
“I am really proud of Mike,” Donlon said. “There were probably a few guys I have been really hard on and Mike is one of them. Mike and Roderick (Davis) were not recruited to do what they have to do now and you have to be fair to those two kids.”
First half:
The contest started in similar fashion to the Nov. 5 exhibition versus Findlay. WSU allowed a few easy buckets and Belmont got off to a quick 6-0 start. WSU guard Reggie Arceneaux settled the offense with a 3-pointer. A moment later, Griffin drove hard into the lane to draw a foul. Any question marks on whether he could match his intense style after facing three concussions were answered quickly. He still had that edge to him.
WSU kept Belmont without a field goal for over three minutes as Belmont missed three in a row after making seven of its first eight. Taylor Barnette broke run with 3 pointer.
Karena ripped down a huge rebound and scored a basket to tie the game at 21 that got the crowd into it. Karena gave WSU its first lead at 23-21 with a half hook. Belmont made one of its next nine.
Bradds broke an over 10-minute streak without a field goal for Belmont to cut WSU’s lead to 27-25. Hopkins answered with a 3. Then Belmont went on a 7-0 run before the run was broken up by a Karena free throw.
Belmont led 40-37 going into the half.
Second half:
After WSU got into some early foul trouble, Donlon went with a four-freshman lineup along with Joe Thomasson. Benginzer, Grant Evans, Justin Mitchell and Rod Davis were all out on the court at the same time for WSU as the Raiders were rallying from down two.
Karena reached double digits five minutes into the second. Seconds later, he committed his fourth foul and took a seat.
After Rod Davis’ block, Benzinger hit a 3 and Arceneaux hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 51. With Thomasson’s free throws, WSU took a 7-0 run and went up 53-51.
In a span of about a minute, Rod Davis committed three fouls in addition to the two he had in the first half. The hip check with 9:57 left caused him to foul out.
Three minutes later, Karena went out with his fifth and final foul leaving Steven Davis as the only remaining forward left in the lineup.
And then all hell broke loose
With two minutes left in the game, WSU trailing 70-66, a steady procession of fans exited the Nutter Center. Those fans missed a fantastic ending. Chrishawn Hopkins made a huge layup to cut the Belmont lead to 70-68. On the next WSU possession, Steven Davis went diving to the bottom of a pile for a loose ball. He took control of the ball and called timeout before Belmont could tie him up. Out of the timeout, Arceneaux hit a pair of huge free throws with 1:10 left to tie the game.
After Benzinger’s huge steal, Arceneaux went back to the line this time splitting the pair to give WSU the lead.
With less than 30 seconds left and WSU only up one, Belmont went back to its best player Bradds who was money all night. He was 8-for-9 from the field and clearly comfortable playing in front of dozens of family, friends and well-wishers.
Bradds and Benzinger battled with Benzinger taking the charge with 10 seconds left. As WSU got the ball up the court, Bradds came flying out of nowhere to commit an intentional foul. The foul allowed WSU to get two free throws and the ball. The Raiders missed both free throws but Hopkins scored on an uncontested layup with 2.8 seconds left.
The Raiders walked away victorious on t-shirt night in front of over 5,400 fans. Safe to say based on the Raiders played Friday, many will be back.
They said it:
Donlon on watching the play that led up to the charge:
The one hamster I have running in this brain of mine was running around so fast, that time was flying by. I really didn’t know what was going to happen. That was a really, really heady play. At the end of the day, if he doesn’t fall and it is not a charge, the kid is scoring. Why not take a shot at it?
Benzinger on Jamestown native Evan Bradds who scored 21:
He is patient. He waits on you to make a mistake and once you make a mistake, he is going to take advantage of it and you have to give him credit because he puts in the work too.
