The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Raiders keeping eye on close league race

Mesoraco's slam sends Reds over Braves
Updated 17 min. ago
Raiders fall in tourney opener
5/25/12
Rough 1st inning sets up Tipp exit
5/25/12
Local Scoreboard for May 25
5/24/12
Ohio State AD says 12 violations minor
5/24/12
> More sports headlines

By Kyle Nagel, Staff Writer Updated 12:11 AM Saturday, January 28, 2012

FAIRBORN — In another tight season in the Horizon League, there have already been head-scratching results this week.

On Thursday, eighth-place Wisconsin-Green Bay thumped Valparaiso, which was tied for first, 75-60. UW-Milwaukee sent Butler to a 6-4 league record with a 53-42 win on the same night.

The league enters today’s three games with seven teams within two games of first place. Wright State moved above .500 in league play at 6-5 with a 47-41 win against Loyola on Friday (11-12 overall), and the Raiders are tied with Detroit for sixth place. Players are keeping an eye on the results.

“We have the alerts coming in (on cell phones) and know who’s playing who on what night,” said WSU guard Julius Mays. “It’s good for us to know, so we can come out and perform.”

Youngstown State (11-9, 6-3) will play what many consider its most significant game as a member of the Horizon League (joined in 2001) tonight when the Penguins host first-place Cleveland State (17-4, 7-2). CSU is alone in first place in the league after Valparaiso’s Thursday loss.

Milwaukee will host Valparaiso at 2 p.m. today (broadcast on Time Warner Cable Channel 99) in a matchup between the two teams tied for second. Seven league teams enter the weekend with between three and six losses in the league, as CSU is the only team with fewer than three.

Big absence: Walt Gibler, a Loyola senior forward and Cincinnati St. Xavier High School product, was not in uniform for the Ramblers after aggravating an injury in a game against Detroit on Wednesday. Gibler averages 13.4 points and 6.2 rebounds and is 16 points shy of 1,000 and 17 rebounds short of 500.

“We struggle scoring so much, so obviously not having your (second) leading scorer, and he’s percentage-wise a good shooter,” said Loyola coach Porter Moser. “That hurt us there.”

Black Out event: The Raiders hosted a “Black Out Cancer” night on Friday that included free T-shirts displaying the WSU slogan “Raider Up!” to the first 3,000 in attendance. Both coaching staffs wore gym shoes, and the Raiders wore their black uniforms for the game.

The strong student turnout included a crowd-surfing Rowdy Raider mascot in the first half.

First-half woes: Wright State trailed 20-17 at halftime, the fourth time this season the Raiders scored 17 or fewer points in a half. In the second half Wednesday night against Illinois-Chicago and the first half Friday, the Raiders had a combined 41 points, 20.9 percent shooting from the field and 25 percent from 3-point range.

Hall back: Vance Hall, who missed two games due to a concussion suffered in practice on Jan. 19, returned Friday to play 14 minutes and grab two rebounds.

Stats: Loyola outrebounded Wright State 34-23. ... Loyola had 22 turnovers, WSU eight. ... WSU held an opponent to fewer than 60 points for the 11th time this season.

Etc.: WSU has three regular-season home games remaining, against UW- Green Bay on Feb. 10, UW- Milwaukee on Feb. 12 and Detroit on Feb. 15. Teams seeded Nos. 3-6 in the Horizon League tournament host first-round games.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7389 or knagel@DaytonDailyNews.com.

Share this article