After building an eight-point lead midway through the second half, the Raiders went 6 of 11 from the foul line. That hurt, too.
And Torrey Patton, a Trotwood-Madison grad, had an inspired performance, scoring a game-high 17 points (along with eight rebounds), including four in the last 58 seconds.
But Wright State coach Scott Nagy put the blame squarely on himself, though he’d have a hard time finding anyone who would concur.
After Tanner Holden scored on a game-tying put-back with 4.2 seconds to go, the Vikings grabbed the ball out of the net and raced to the other end.
D’Moi Hodge got behind the Raiders’ scrambling defense and fed Deante Johnson at the rim for an easy ally-oop dunk with seventh-tenths of a second left in a 66-64 victory Friday.
“I thought both teams played hard. Both teams struggled to score against good defenses in a physical game,” Nagy said. “Really, it all came down to me at the end. I made a big mistake.
“I told the players it was completely my fault. When we scored, I should’ve called a timeout so we could get our defense set. Very poor coaching decision on my part.”
The Raiders (8-4, 6-3) took a 45-37 lead on a Grant Basile dunk with 13:38 to go.
They still led, 48-41, on a Loudon Love free throw at 10:58.
But the Vikings (9-3, 9-0), who are off to their best league start since becoming a member in 1994-95, went on a 16-5 spree after that for a four-point edge with 4:45 to go.
After the Raiders took a two-point lead on Love’s inside bucket, Patton, a 6-5 senior, scored on a tip-in and again on a drive with 21.5 seconds left.
Tim Finke missed a potential game-winning 3, but Holden grabbed the rebound and dropped it in without coming down.
That set the stage for the frenetic finish.
“We didn’t do a good job talking. That’s on us,” said Basile, one of the players trying to get back on defense. “A lot of times, when the clock is ticking like that, you’re trying to count in your head what they can and can’t do. But they made a nice play at the buzzer.”
Nagy insisted, though, his players shouldn’t take the fault.
“The game last week, several players could’ve taken responsibility for it,” he said of the 74-72 home loss to Youngstown State. “This one is completely on me. I’m gonna have to get myself back (mentally).”
Nagy said his pattern is to burn a timeout in that situation. But Cleveland State coach Dennis Gates went against convention by not taking one himself to set up a last shot.
“It would be something I (normally) do,” Nagy said. “(Assistant Brian) Cooley reminded me before and reminded me after, and I still didn’t do it. I thought we were in a good spot and matched up with them, but I didn’t see the whole floor. I just should’ve done it.”
Basile had 15 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Love had 14 points, eight boards and four blocks.
Turnovers troubling: Nagy labeled the first half one of the strangest he’s experienced. It was tied at 27 despite 13 turnovers by the Raiders.
CSU was 11 of 35 from the field, Wright State 7 of 18.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that,” he said of the shot disparity. “Thankfully, we were good defensively.
“They scored four points in the half court and 23 points on second-chance points and turnovers. It was an absolute miracle the score was tied at halftime. We did a better job of taking care of the ball in the second half.”
Basile added: “We started out the game being a little careless with the ball, and I think that was a good indicator (for how the game went).”
Making noise: The CSU bench displayed plenty of pep at the start — standing, cheering and clapping in unison. The noise echoed throughout the empty arena and may have had something to do with the Vikings racing to a 5-0 lead.
The refs, though, put a halt to it about two minutes into the game. They forced everyone to take seats, which lowered the volume.
Back again: Three-year starter Jaylon Hall didn’t play in Saturday’s game against Youngstown State for undisclosed reasons. He came off the bench after about eight minutes against CSU and scored two points.
The Raiders are working to build depth but aren’t there yet. Nagy was forced to play freshmen guards Alex Huibregtse and Andrew Welage together early in the first half.
Welcome home: Patton isn’t flashy. He was looking up at the 6-foot-8 Love and 6-9 Basile, but he still made 7 of 13 shots and has scored in double figures in all nine of the Vikings’ league wins.
“He’s a good player. They’ve got a lot of good players over there, though,” Basile said. “He played hard and made some nice plays at the end.”
SATURDAY’S GAME
Cleveland State at Wright State, 7 p.m., ESPN3, 106.5
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