Photos © and Courtesy of Tim G. Zechar

Post-game Audio

• Duggins and Cooperwood comments


• Brad Brownell comments

Cooperwood recorded a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds. His 19 points tied a career high, marking the fifth occasion for that accomplishment. Duggins added 21 points, tying his season high.

N'Gai Evans also enjoyed one of his best games of the season. Evans scored 9 points on 4-of-6 shooting, grabbed 6 rebounds, had a steal, blocked a shot, and dished out 6 assists while committing just 1 turnover, in 26 minutes of action.

The Raiders struggled through some early cold shooting, but managed to lead for all but one minute in the first half. After trailing 4-2, less than 2 minutes into the game, Duggins carried the offensive load for the Green and Gold. He scored 14 out of Wright State's first 24 points, allowing them to maintain a 24-22 advantage at 5:28 before halftime.

"I just try to play as hard as I can, and do the things that I do well - that's guard the team's best player," said Duggins. "My shot's starting to fall a little bit more than it was at the beginning (of the season). I'm starting to get a little more aggressive."

A slam-dunk and a lay-up by Todd Brown, followed by a pair of Cooperwood baskets, sent the Raiders into the game's intermission holding a 32-27 lead.

Wright State (14-8, 7-4) came out of the locker room, playing to a familiar script from the past several games. In a fashion similar to all three games of the most recent road trip, the Raiders built a nice halftime lead, but began the second half with a 5 minute scoring drought from the field. They hit a couple free throws, but found themselves trailing the Ramblers 36-34, before Troy Tabler drained a trey to regain the lead 37-36 at the 14:43 mark.

Loyola (12-9, 3-8) clawed their way back in front, 43-41 with 9:14 to play. That's when Cory Cooperwood turned up his already high-energy level another notch. He scored each of the Raiders' next 8 points over the next 3 minutes, to put Wright State ahead 49-48 with 6:01 remaining. Four of those 8 points came from a pair of nice assists from N'Gai Evans.

Duggins, Cooperwood, and Evans canned shots from behind the arc on three consecutive possessions, to quickly turn a 1-point nail-biter into a 10-point lead at 58-48, forcing Loyola's head coach to call his final time-out of the game with 3:54 showing on the clock.

Wright State wore down the Ramblers, and finished with a 17-0 run over the game's final 6 minutes, to win going away 66-48.

For the game, the Raiders took 19 more field goal attempts than the Ramblers, thanks in part to 13 offensive rebounds and committing just 7 turnovers. WSU shot 27-of-63 (42.9%) from the field and 6-of-8 from the free throw line. Loyola meanwhile, made 16-of-44 (36.4%) from the floor and 8-of-12 from the charity stripe.

Streaks

So Close…

The Raiders have lost three games in the Horizon League in which the last possession of regulation could have decided the game. Had they won those games, WSU would hold a 10-1 league record.

When asked to comment, Vaughn Duggins said "In all of the seasons that I've been here, the last part of the season (last 12-13 games), we've been the most dangerous team in the Horizon League. We were just waiting to hit that mark. We all believe that we're that team (10-1 record). We're playing with a lot of confidence."

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