For the first five minutes of Sunday’s game, it appeared that Ohio Dominican had no business playing in the same gym with Wright State. The Division II squad that won just five games last year missed its first seven shots in the contest and it was destined to be blown out.
But Ohio Dominican’s Mark Minch stepped up in a huge way for the Panthers from the banks of Alum Creek in Columbus. Before you knew it, WSU’s early seven-point lead had evaporated and we had a basketball game.
Minch scored 21 points for the Panthers .
Minch and WSU head coach Billy Donlon are connected through former coach Wally Vickers. Vickers coached Minch in high school at Lakota East. Vickers coached Donlon at the Five Star Basketball Camp.
Donlon said that WSU had offered Minch a scholarship early in his time in high school.
“And then he broke his ankle and had some issues but he can play in our league,” Donlon said.
Ohio Dominican came in a tired bunch looking for a win. The Panthers lost a pair of games in a tournament hosted in Cedarville this weekend. The Panthers did not seem bothered by playing their third game in as many days.
WSU had a few stretches where it extended the lead to six, seven or eight, but every time, Ohio Dominican had an answer. That was the story of the game until the final few minutes when WSU pulled away.
First half:
For the first five minutes, the WSU squad everyone saw Friday had returned. But for the rest of the half, the squad looked a bit sluggish.
Ohio Dominican missed its first seven shots as Wright State took a 6-0 lead. But the Panthers turned those misses into open makes and took the lead minutes later.
The Raiders relied on the backcourt duo of Chrishawn Hopkins and Reggie Arceneaux who combined for 17 of WSU’s first 23 points. Grant Benzinger had two early fouls after having a dynamite game defensively against Belmont.
Michael Karena did a much better job avoiding picking up fouls in the first half. He committed his second foul of the half after playing 12 minutes. He had five fouls in 15 minutes of action Friday.
Second half:
Jesse Ward hit a 3-pointer to start the second half that gave ODU a 34-32 lead. Then Chrisawn Hopkins went to work. He had eight points in the first five minutes of the second half.
Karena broke a 46-all tie with drawing a jump ball on a badly missed basket and then getting a three-point play. But he ended up collecting his fourth foul in short order causing his minutes to be limited for the second straight game.
Hopkins went a long stretch in the second half without a bucket as the Panthers aggressively guarded Hopkins. For most of the second half, the Raiders could not build a lead larger than four.
Chrishawn Hopkins got a steal and found Steven Davis on a fast break. The bucket gave WSU its largest lead of the second half at 69-62. That field goal started to allow WSU to pull away. The Raiders finished on a 15-4 run.
Kendall Griffin’s status:
After Griffin left Friday’s game with an apparent head injury, Donlon said he would not be able to say much on his status given the nature of the injury. Friday night, Griffin’s brother had Tweeted that Griffin had sustained a concussion; his fourth since the start of last season. But word from sources was that Griffin has yet to have a full evaluation and will be evaluated further this week.
If Griffin’s brother is correct, it is a scary proposition seeing Griffin on the court given what he wants to do with his life after basketball. Griffin was on the bench cheering his team on Sunday. Knowing how competitive Griffin is, it is a role he wishes he didn’t have.
Mark Howell is back:
Howell made his return Sunday after missing the exhibition versus Findlay and the season opener against Belmont with a suspension. Donlon listed the suspension as a violation of team rules.
Howell only played eight minutes and was scoreless.
They said it:
Donlon:
We have to not have Steven (Davis) and Mike (Karena) get so many fouls. That is going to take time. Steven didn’t get much time last year and Mike is new to the level and you can clearly tell he can play.
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As I told the team, you don’t get extra wins for beating Belmont on Friday. We aren’t 3-0 because everyone perceives Belmont as better than Ohio Dominican. We’re one for that one, one for today and then one on Wednesday. That is the way winning and losing works.
Joe Thomasson on replacing Griffin in the starting lineup:
It is going to take more than one person to pick up his effort, his energy. Kendall, just being around us, picks us up and lifts up our spirit. In the locker room, just being around us, he picks up our spirits.
Finishing is more important to me than starting.
