Stunning defeat hard to take, but Wright State’s Nagy keeping it in perspective

Wright State coach Scott Nagy talks to his team during a timeout against Cleveland State earlier this season. Joe Craven/Wright State Athletics

Wright State coach Scott Nagy talks to his team during a timeout against Cleveland State earlier this season. Joe Craven/Wright State Athletics

FAIRBORN — Wright State coach Scott Nagy allowed himself one day to engage in a little self-pity after being left shell-shocked by a loss at Purdue Fort Wayne — but only one day.

As he was leaving for the office Monday morning, he knew he had to move on in order to help his players get past it. And thanks to what he believes was some divine intervention, he did just that.

“I hurt for our players. I hurt for our coaches. I hurt for me. But I walked out to my truck and heard birds singing. And I thought, ‘OK, God’s trying to get my attention,’” he said.

“We get to coach and go play basketball and do all these things a lot of people would love to do. Even though you feel like you let a lot of people down, we’re blessed to get to do what we do.”

In a shot that ended up being No. 1 on ESPN SportsCenter’s top-10 plays of the day, the Raiders lost on the road, 77-75, on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from just inside half court.

They’d taken their first lead of the game on a baseline jumper by Mr. Clutch, star guard Trey Calvin, with 2.8 seconds left. But Damian Chong Qui caught a short inbounds pass, took three dribbles and let it fly while falling to the court.

Forward Brandon Noel put a hand up to contest it, but he had to be careful about fouling.

Travis Trice and another Wright State assistant were waving at the players to move up defensively, which might have kept Chong Qui from even reaching half court. But no one noticed.

Fans stormed the court when the ball rattled in. And Wright State’s Tim Finke, Andrew Welage and Alex Huibregtse all lifted their hands to their heads in disbelief.

Nagy, who started his career as a graduate assistant at Illinois, has been on both sides of desperation shots.

The Illini knocked off Bobby Knight and Indiana on the road in 1988-89 on a 35-footer by Nick Anderson.

As South Dakota State’s coach, Nagy’s team lost on an even more implausible shot.

“It was against Western Illinois, and it was more than a half-courter,” he said. “It was about a three-quarter-court heave that went in.”

But in Nagy’s mind, the Raiders shouldn’t even have put themselves in that position against a team that had lost four straight games.

“We didn’t play well. It was just a struggle the whole game. It seemed like we were fighting uphill against the wind,” he said.

“But our kids didn’t quit even when it wasn’t going well, and that’s what I’m most happy about. Even losing on a Hail Mary like that, I can live with it because of our guys’ effort.”

The Raiders (16-13, 9-9) can’t allow the loss to linger because they have too much at stake.

They finish the regular-season at Oakland (12-17, 10-8) on Thursday and Detroit Mercy (13-16, 9-9) on Saturday. They’re tied for sixth in the league but could climb to the fifth seed (and get a first-round tourney bye) with a pair of wins.

“We were tight on the road,” Nagy said of back-to-back losses to PFW and Cleveland State. “You could see with the way we shot and moved. You have to keep things in perspective of where these games are in the scope of life.

“It’s important to us. But even if we don’t get what we want, we’re going to be OK. When you start thinking the other way, that’s when you start playing tight. We need our guys to relax and be who they are.”

THURSDAY’S GAME

Wright State at Oakland, 7 p.m., ESPN+, 980

About the Author