Photos © and Courtesy of Tim G. Zechar

Post-game Audio

• Valpo coach comments


• Vaughn and Cory comments


• Brad Brownell comments

Cory Cooperwood and Vaughn Duggins played the role of heroes. Duggins hit a jumper for the game winning bucket, and Cory's play was amazing. The Raiders overcame a 9-point deficit, scoring the game's final 11 points, over the last 7:09 of the contest.

Cooperwood recorded a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds, but even better than his statistics, was his intensity and energy.

"Cory was SO good," said Valparaiso coach Homer Drew. "He had 5 offensive rebounds. We thought that he had 10. It seemed like he ended up getting every big one. He's very efficient on the offensive boards for Wright State. Cory has a tenacity to find the ball. Those were huge."

"He (Cooperwood) certainly was the guy that turned the tide," said Brownell. "His competitive fire was certainly on center stage the last five to eight minutes of the game."

Some sluggish play by the Raiders and hot shooting by Valpo led to an early 10-4 Crusader advantage after three minutes of action.

Ronnie Thomas hit 3-of-4 field goals early to keep the Green and Gold close. N'Gai Evans canned a trey, and Wright State took a short-lived lead, 17-16 with 12:36 remaining in the half.

The Raiders (11-6, 4-2) struggled offensively from the floor, hitting just 9-of-31 first half shots for 29%. Despite their shooting woes, WSU managed a 27-27 tie score with less than a minute left in the half. That's when Cory Johnson hit a pair of lay-ups for the Crusaders, the final one at the buzzer, sending Valpo into the halftime locker room with a 31-27 lead.

Wright State continued to struggle for most of the second half. Meanwhile, Valparaiso (6-11, 1-4) effectively executed their game plan, and built their largest lead of the afternoon at 57-48 with 7:09 left in the contest.

Cory Cooperwood, who had been playing with an extremely high energy level for the entire game, suddenly turned his intensity level up another notch. His team picked up their defensive pressure, and did not allow Vaplo to score a single point over the remainder of the contest.

Down by 7 points, with less than 5 minutes to play, Cooperwood scored Wright State's next 7 straight, to tie the score 57-57 with 2:00 remaining.

Cory's first bucket, at 4:50, was a strong driving lay-up to the hoop. One minute later, he drained a huge 3-pointer from the top of the arc, with the shot clock running down, closing the gap to 57-55. With two minutes to play, Cory was fouled on another strong drive to the hoop. He calmly drained both free throws, knotting the score at 57.

"I can't think of anybody in the league that wouldn't want him (Cooperwood) as their starting forward," said Wright State coach Brad Brownell. "Tonight he showed that he hit big shots - the big drive - the big three - 13 rebounds out of our 32 - he's a very good player."

Cooperwood's heroics set up a dramatic ending to the game. With the shot clock off and 34.7 seconds left in the contest, Wright State in-bounded the ball with a chance to win. The Raiders waited to run a play until 10 seconds remained. N'Gai Evans found Vaughn Duggins for a jump shot at the right elbow, that ripped nothing but net with 4.7 seconds showing.

Wright State head coach Brad Brownell tried to call a time out to set up the defense, but Valpo quickly pushed the ball up court. They drove the lane and hit a lay-up, but the horn had sounded, just a split second before they could get the shot off. The Raiders escaped with a 59-57 victory.

Vaughn Duggins led the Raiders with the game winning shot and 18 points. Cory Cooperwood recorded a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds. N'Gai Evans chipped in with 12 points. Ronnie Thomas added 9, including a big 3-pointer when the team desperately needed it, trailing by 8, midway through the second half.

Valparaiso shot 22-of-45 (48.9%) from the field. Wright State hit 21-of-54 (38.9%). Valpo was 4-of-7 from the charity stripe, while the Raiders were 10-of-15. The Green and Gold won the battle of the boards 32-31.

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A Note to the Wright State Students (Disguised as Empty Seats):

It's OK to support YOUR Wright State basketball team when your team is playing somebody other than Butler. Outside of the cheer squads and pep band, that always do a great job, there appeared to be less than 100 students in sections 212 and 213, behind the basket.

There's no excuse for that. This is your team and your school. It's early in the quarter, and your tickets are F-R-E-E. Show some school spirit and support your team. They deserve it.

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