La Tulip was at his hot-handed best on Saturday afternoon at Detroit Mercy's historic Calihan Hall. He buried four first-half 3's in super-charging Wright State to an 85-72 win. It was the first Horizon League win for WSU (10-5, 1-1), which dropped its league opener 81-62 at Oakland (Mich.) on Thursday. The loss extends a slide for league bottom-dweller Detroit (2-12, 0-2).
Steven Davishit 9 of 15 shots — including a couple of 3s — and led the Raiders with 22 points and four rebounds. La Tulip added 14 points — all in the first half — and converted 4 of 6 threes. Grant Benzinger also hit three 3s and added 12 points.
WSU's leading scorer, Mark Alstork, was held to 9 points on six shots but had five assists and drew the attention of Detroit's defense throughout, opening up space for La Tulip and Benzinger. Parker Ernsthausen and Justin Mitchell (seven assists) also tallied 9 points apiece for the Raiders.
“Coming off the bench, you have to let the game come to you,” said La Tulip, from the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights. “Your role stays the same whether you’re starting or coming off the bench. I had a couple of good looks and my teammates did a great job of finding me and I was able to knock a few down.”
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Detroit led WSU by four midway through the first half when La Tulip started hitting 3’s. He knocked down three straight and Benzinger added two more that enabled WSU to lead 42-33 at halftime. Detroit, paced by Corey Allen’s 23 points, closed within six but couldn’t keep pace with Wright State’s torrid shooting from the floor (29 of 52, 55.8 percent) or 3-pointers (12 of 21).
WSU NOTEBOOK: Ernsthausen comes up big
Known for its high scoring, Detroit is adjusting to first-year coach Bacari Alexander and his defense-first plea.
“We have to continue to do some soul searching,” said Alexander, whose Titans have beaten only NCAA D-III Adrian (Mich.) and Western Kentucky. “There’s guys I’ve challenged to get a sense of urgency.”
That’s just what WSU eventually displayed. Nagy wanted answers after the beat-down at Oakland.
“We were able to respond well and not mope around and feel sorry for yourself,” he said. “Our teams have been pretty good about that. We don’t let them give into self-pity stuff. (La Tulip) coming off the bench was a big lift and we were really good offensively in the second half. We were good defensively when we needed to be when the game got tight.”
This was one of four Horizon League men’s games on Saturday. It also completed a two-game holiday road trip for the Raiders. WSU will host Cleveland State at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Ervin J. Nutter Center and Youngstown State at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
NEXT GAME
Who: Cleveland State at Wright State
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday
TV/Radio: 106.5-FM
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