Down 14 Points, Raiders Come Back to Chill the Penguins 60-59 in Hot Contest

January 4, 2009
Tell us your opinion!
Email RaiderRoundball
   Email story to a friend

Photos © and Courtesy of Tim G. Zechar

Tonight's 60-59 nail-biter over the Penguins, the sixth victory in a row for the Raiders, gives Wright State a winning record at 8-7, and puts them back into the heart of the race for the Horizon League championship.

Tonight, the Green and Gold would find themselves down by 13 points at halftime. One would think that some divine intervention would be needed to overcome such a deficit, especially considering that this year's Wright State team was 0-7 when trailing at the half. Raider fans would have to wait until the final buzzer to see if one more prayer would be answered.

Wright State came out with the same starting line-up for the fifth consecutive contest. Gardner, Brown, Cooperwood, Graham, and Thomas took the court for the opening tip-off.

It was apparent from the start that Youngstown State was playing to win. They jumped out to an early 4-0 lead on a put-back by Kelvin Bright and a lay-up by DeAndre Mays. The Raiders evened the score at 4, seconds before the first media time out. The Green and Gold would eventually claw their way to an 11-10 lead after 10 minutes of play on a 3-pointer by Troy Tabler, an easy deuce by Ronnie Thomas on a nice feed from Scott Grote, and put-back by Will Graham.

Unfortunately for the Raiders, Cory Cooperwood spent the final 11 minutes of the first half on the bench after drawing his second foul. His energy was sorely missed. Youngstown State outplayed the Raiders. They were more aggressive and quicker to the ball. With Cooperwood out of the line-up, the Penguins closed the half by outscoring Wright State 23-9 to take a 33-20 advantage at the intermission.

"When you're down 13 at halftime, locker rooms aren't much fun." said Wright State Raider guard John David Gardner. Coach Brownell's halftime message was that the team's energy level needed to be better.

With Cory Cooperwood back on the floor, the energy was better. The Raiders wasted little time roaring back. They came out of the locker room and scored the first nine points, thanks to a lay-up by Graham, a basket and free throw by Cooperwood, a Todd Brown dunk, and Ronnie Thomas lay-in. Two offensive rebounds by Cooperwood sparked the rally. The score suddenly stood at 33-29 with 16:40 to play.

From there, both teams battled toe to toe. Wright State eventually tied the score at 44, and took a 46-44 lead with 10:23 to play. However, the Penguins did not roll over and go away. Over the remainder of the contest, there would be five lead changes and nine tied scores.

Vytas Sulskis canned a 3-point shot to give Youngstown State a 59-56 advantage at the 2:04 mark. John David Gardner hit a jumper with 53 seconds to play, drawing the Raiders to within one point at 59-58. A steal by Gardner and ensuing foul on YSU's Dallas Blocker sent Todd Brown to the charity stripe for two free throws with 33 seconds to play.

While at the foul line, Todd Brown said that all he was thinking was "Please Lord, let me make these two shots." His prayers were answered. Brown calmly canned both tosses for a 60-59 WSU lead. It would now be up to the WSU defense to bring home the victory.

YSU ran some clock before missing a runner with 12 seconds to play. The missed shot touched a Raider before going out of bounds, so possession remained with the Penguins for another chance to steal a victory at the Nutter Center. They found an open look near the top of the arc, but their shoot went off of the rim. Todd Brown skied high to grab the rebound and seal the win as the game's final buzzer sounded.

Wright State coach Brad Brownell knew that this would be a tough game because YSU has been playing well over the past couple of weeks. He added that they're a dangerous offensive team with four to five shot makers.

Commenting about the defensive stand to end the game, Brownell said "We preach good defense. We want to be used to guarding on every possession, so that we can play good defense on the last possession."

Cooperwood, Brown, and Land led a balanced Wright State scoring attack by recording 11 points apiece. Other Raiders scoring were Thomas (7), Gardner (7), Graham (6), Tabler (3), Evans (2), and Horne (2). Ronnie Thomas led the team in rebounding with 8, while Cooperwood and Brown contributed with 6 and 5 boards respectively.

A crowd of 4,115 saw the Raiders shoot 42.6%, hitting 20-of-47 from the floor. They made 4-of-16 from beyond the arc, and were 16-of-23 from the free throw line. YSU on the other hand, made 7 free throws on 12 attempts and hit 46.7% from the field. Wright State grabbed 11 offensive rebounds, while winning the overall battle of the boards (32-27). They recorded 10 assists and committed 12 turnovers. The Green and Gold overcame a 14 point deficit (30-16), but led by no more than 2 points at any time in the contest.

With the victory, WSU leads the overall series 30-7, while Coach Brownell holds a 4-1 record against Youngstown State (4-9, 1-3 Horizon).

Up next for Wright State (8-7, 2-2 Horizon) will be three Horizon League games, all on the road, at Butler, Valparaiso, and Detroit. The Detroit game will be televised live on ESPN-U Friday January 16, with tip-off set for 9:00 pm.

Next home games: