Men’s Basketball | Photo by Daniel Delgado | The Wright State Guardian
The Raider Men’s Basketball team traveled to Indianapolis to face off against IUPUI in two games over the weekend. The Raiders were projected to win coming into the series, but with their two last games on Friday ending in buzzer beater losses, the Raiders would have to be careful when dealing with the Jaguar offense.
The Raiders won both games by around 30 points, winning 95-65 on Friday and 100-72 on Saturday.
The players to watch over the weekend were IUPUI’s offensive combo of Jaylen Minnett and Marcus Burk, with Burk putting in 34 points on Saturday, and WSU’s Grant Basile, whose 44 points and 14 rebounds over the weekend earned him Horizon League player of the week honors.
Don’t take him for granted
When coming up against Wright State this year, teams have been quick to focus on defending Loudon Love and Tanner Holden, and for good reason. However, The Jaguars leaving Grant Basile in a one-on-one matchup allowed him to dominate in both games and secure the Raiders a 2-0 weekend.
“It’s hard to key in on any one guy on our team… Trey, Tim, Jaylon, Tanner… everyone is shooting so well right now,” Basile said.
His 24 points on Friday gave him more attention from IUPUI on Saturday, but he was still able to put in 20 points and rebound six, earning himself Horizon League player of the week honors.
However, the honors haven’t fazed Basile.
“Everything pretty much stays the same. It’s not possible without good teammates,” he said. “The thing about our team is every week there’s someone new who can lead us in scoring.”
Basile’s 40 points of Wright State’s almost 200 over the weekend might point to this being a more offensively-minded team, but it is actually WSU’s defensive play that has allowed these score lines.
“I think it starts in the defensive end. The easiest offense is just run outs and if we keep playing defense like we are… it just makes offense a lot easier,” Basile said.
It was expected that Basile would do well in the paint, but his outside shooting jumped off the scoresheet on Saturday, with him attempting three three-pointers, and making every single one. This dangerous shooting will give Wright State an edge not only from each player on offense being able to put in points, but also shooting from anywhere on the court being dangerous.
Looking ahead to Robert Morris
While the Colonial’s 3-7 first year in the horizon league has been disappointing in some ways, they have picked up a potential League first team player, AJ Bramah.
Bramah is averaging the highest points per game in the Horizon League, and the third highest rebounds per game. The Raiders will need to watch him closely to continue their win streak, and put the pressure on Cleveland State for the Vikings to drop another game.
The Raiders could try to focus their defense on Bramah, but similar to the Raiders, the Colonials have versatility on offense, with five players putting in double digit points in their last game.
