Holden not only had something to give to those kids, but left his coaches, teammates and a rowdy crowd of 2,873 ecstatic over what he had to give on the court.
He racked up 27 points and 10 rebounds and spurred a furious second-half comeback when Wright State’s season was in jeopardy.
Down by as many as 14 and still trailing, 48-35, with 13:20 to go, the fourth-seeded Raiders (19-13) went on staggering 20-0 run to flatten the fifth-seeded Grizzlies (20-12). Holden and Trey Calvin had seven points apiece in the surge.
Asked what the difference was, Holden said: “The will to win. Whenever you get hit with the reality of your season ending, we knew we had to step up. At halftime, I kept saying, ‘We’ve got 20 minutes. That’s all we’re guaranteed.’”
That’s all they needed.
After shooting 31.3% in the first half, they hit 51.6% after halftime.
They’ll play top-seeded Cleveland State in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Monday on ESPNU. No. 2 Purdue Fort Wayne will play No. 3 Northern Kentucky at 9:30 on ESPN2. Both games are at Indiana Farmers Coliseum.
The Vikings (20-9) beat Robert Morris, 83-67, as Trotwood-Madison grad Torrey Patton scored 25 points.
The Raiders had devastating tourney outcomes the last two years, losing their first game. And another one-and-done showing seemed likely before their 20-0 rampage.
“There was a timeout with something like 11 minutes left. And after we talked to our players, I said to (assistant Clint Sargent), ‘Do you believe we only have 39 points?’” coach Scott Nagy said.
“We’re just not used to scoring so little. We didn’t shoot well, didn’t finish well. But then it was like everything flipped. Their shots were rolling around and didn’t go in. And ours went in.”
The Raiders have had a season-long pattern of getting mechanical against zone defenses, and Oakland’s 1-2-2 zone worked. For a while.
“We knew if could take care of the ball, we’d get good shots against their zone. But that’s hard because they’re big and long and athletic,” Nagy said.
Forward Grant Basile finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds. And point guard Calvin had 16 points and five assists.
Calvin also was a huge factor in why the Raiders had a season-low three turnovers. He had none in 39 minutes.
The fifth-seeded Grizzlies (20-12) went scoreless from 13:20 to 6:44, going 0 of 8 from the field and committing three turnovers.
“The players were in the huddle, like, ‘We’ve got to go on a run, we’ve got to go on a run.’ I said, ‘We can’t go on a run unless we get some stops. That’s the way it works,’” Nagy said.
The players got the message.
“When we get stops like that, you see how we start to roll,” Basile said. “That’s been our thing all year. Once it clicks, it really clicks, and we pour it on in bunches.”
Holden’s complete performance also included rectifying his free-throw woes — which is important since he’s leading the nation in foul shots made and attempted.
Nearly an 80% shooter, he was 11 of 19 in the previous two games and was 4 of 8 in the first half against the Grizzlies. But he was 9 of 9 after halftime.
“Mentally, I think the hardest thing for any basketball player to do is get out of your own head. Especially against Robert Morris and Youngstown State (last week), I was in my own head. But my teammates stuck with me,” he said.
“We all knew we could do this. We had the people to do it. We had the minds to do it. And we did a great job of stepping up.”
MONDAY’S GAME
Wright State vs. Cleveland State, 7 p.m., ESPNU, 980
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