“That was tough to lose a game like that,” he said. “We had a lot of great guys, and I loved my teammates. It was just tough taking it all in.
“You only get so many games, and that stung — losing a game we dominated pretty much the entire way, other than the last six minutes.”
Basile had 35 points and 14 rebounds, but great performances have a way of getting lost in defeat, especially one as unexpected as the 94-92 setback in OT.
The only good that seemingly could come from it is providing additional fuel for the Raiders as they start the league tourney with a quarterfinal matchup against visiting Oakland at 7 p.m. Thursday.
But as Basile he put it, “If you need more fuel than a chance to go to the NCAA tournament, then basketball isn’t the right sport for you.”
The fourth-seeded Raiders are three wins away from their first trip to the tourney since 2018 and fourth appearance overall. But barring upsets, they won’t have a game the rest of the way where they’ll be considered clear favorites.
If they get by the fifth-seeded Grizzlies, who were in first place in the league going into February, they’d likely meet top-seeded Cleveland State in the semis and either No. 2 Purdue Fort Wayne or No. 3 Northern Kentucky in the finals.
But Basile said: “We’re starting to hit our stride a little bit. We’ve been up and down all year. But we’re starting to show some toughness.”
Coach Scott Nagy likes the Raiders’ mentality, too. Though they had a confounding regular-season — they finished 18-13 for their worst winning percentage in his six-year stint — they rebounded from a dispiriting loss at Detroit Mercy with two straight victories at home.
“We’re in a good spot,” Nagy said. “We’re the No. 1 offensive team in the league, and we’re getting better defensively. We’re a tough matchup.”
The Raiders haven’t won a league tourney game since they reached the finals in 2019.
They had a doublebye the next season and were upset by UIC, 73-56, in the semis.
But despite two straight one-and-done showings in the tourney, Nagy isn’t dwelling on those early exits and believes they’re a little misleading.
“When you get byes, it’s one of the reasons we don’t have any victories in the tournament the last two years. With a double bye, you don’t even have an opportunity to win (early) games. You’re already playing the top four,” he said.
“If we weren’t getting a bye, we’d probably have some wins. But I don’t spend any time on that.”
Nor do his players. They know they have a tough enough task without dragging along any baggage from the past.
“There’s a lot of good teams,” point guard Trey Calvin said. “If you told me before the year that Purdue Fort Wayne was going to win the Horizon League, I would have said no way.”
PFW won its last nine games to share the crown with CSU.
“No matter who we’re playing, we have to be locked in emotionally — especially on defense,” he said.
The tourney actually has an anybody-can-win-it feel because there isn’t the usual strength at the top.
Wright State was ranked 75th in the NET last season but has tumbled to 209th this year.
The top-rated team is Oakland at 153rd.
That’s why the HL is ranked 26th among 32 Division-I leagues in the KenPom.com calculations.
It was 20th last season and 22nd and 18th in the two years before that.
But while the Raiders’ last two tourney efforts have ended in major disappointment, they’re more experienced this year and perhaps better equipped to handle the pressure.
“I’ve been there twice. Most of our guys have been there twice. We know what it takes to win,” Calvin said.
“We just have to be locked in. No matter if we’re up 30 or down 30, it’s never over. You have to play with a lot of energy. We can’t take any possessions off.”
THURSDAY’S GAME
Wright State at Oakland, 7 p.m., ESPN+, 980
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