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WSU's Mays still limited by injured ankle

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By Kyle Nagel, Staff Writer Updated 10:56 PM Saturday, January 14, 2012

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Julius Mays limped out of the Wright State locker room inside the Resch Center, only minutes after missing a running 3-pointer from half court at the buzzer in the Raiders’ 57-56 loss to Wisconsin-Green Bay.

He finished with a team-high 15 points, but his left ankle, with a hurting Achilles tendon, clearly bothered him. He left the game for a period in the second half for treatment.

Mays, WSU’s leading scorer, said he’s still adjusting to the injury, which he suffered in last Sunday’s game against Valparaiso.

“I actually felt definitely worse,” Mays said of comparing the injury’s severity to Thursday’s game against Milwaukee, when he scored just three points. “I don’t know, this is really gonna be a day-to-day thing. Just keep playing on it, I don’t think it’s gonna really make it any better, it’s only getting worse, so just really a day-to-day thing and we’ll see what happens in the next few days.”

WSU coach Billy Donlon said Mays did what he could despite the injury.

“He gave us all he had today, and I just hope it doesn’t affect him the rest of the way,” Donlon said.

Brown plays big: Alec Brown, Green Bay’s 7-foot-1 sophomore center who averages 13.7 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.8 blocks, set a Horizon League record for blocks in a game with 11, breaking the record of nine set by UIC’s Scott VanderMeer against Cleveland State in 2007. He added nine points and eight rebounds despite making only 1-of-4 shots.

Freshman point guard Keifer Sykes led the Phoenix with 16 points, and he added six rebounds and two assists.

Quiet at the line: Wright State attempted its first free throw with 4:41 left and finished 5-of-6. It was the third time this season (North Florida, Illinois-Chicago) that the Raiders didn’t attempt a free throw in the first half.

Green Bay made 26-of-35 free throws, including 8-of-12 in the final 3:44. The Phoenix didn’t make a field-goal attempt in the final 4:22, instead scoring their final eight points on free throws.

“This is my sixth year in this building, and it’s hard to guard the other team at the foul line,” Donlon said.

Half within a half: Wright State started the game by outscoring Green Bay 22-8 in the first 7:55 while making 9-of-16 shots. For the remaining 12:05 of the first half, the Raiders scored eight points on 4-of-17 shooting.

Still, WSU led 30-22 at halftime, just the fifth time in 20 games this season the Raiders have held a halftime advantage. They were 4-0 in the previous four games.

Stats: WSU grabbed 22 rebounds in the first half but finished with 31, still just the 10th time in 20 games with that many. ... The Raiders forced 21 turnovers, the fourth time this season with at least 20. ... Mays and guard Reggie Arceneaux combined for 11 of WSU’s 16 turnovers.

Etc.: Junior John Balwigaire had missed his previous seven 3-point attempts over three games before connecting with 14:12 left. Known as a shooter when he arrived from Mesa (Ariz.) Community College this season, he entered Saturday making 33.3 percent on the season.

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

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