Actually, anyone who can remember that 105-93 setback to the Yellow Jackets probably either played in the game or is a loooong-time Raider fan.
It came on the road on Feb. 13, 1971, the first season of basketball at Wright State.
The only person connected with the Raiders who was alive then is coach Scott Nagy, who was 4. And his only concern was keeping his players plugged in mentally against the Division-III program, which was coming off an 84-69 defeat to Alma (Mich.) on Wednesday.
The Raiders put seven players in double figures and made 40 of 54 shots for 74.1% — the highest clip in Division I so far this season (according to the media relations staff).
The school record for field-goal shooting is 76.6% (49 of 64) against Otterbein on Dec. 16, 1978.
“We talked about approaching this game with a level of maturity, and we did,” Nagy said.
But he added: “The first half didn’t turn out the way we wanted. They made so many 3′s.”
The Raiders (3-1) were never threatened, though they allowed the Yellow Jackets (1-3) to hang around in the first half.
The lead was only 27-22 after 12 minutes.
The score was 49-33 at halftime, and 27 of the Yellow Jackets’ total came on 3′s. They were 9 of 19 from beyond the arc, finishing 14 of 37.
“We told our guys at halftime, ‘You’re doing everything we asked you to do in terms of our defense. As a coaching staff, we need to make the adjustments,’” Nagy said.
“We were over-helping too much. We probably could take them one-on-one and didn’t need to help as much. We made that adjustment in the second half.”
Star guard Trey Calvin missed the game because of back and hamstring issues. He also missed the preseason scrimmage against Kent State because of the same problem.
But he participated in the afternoon shoot-around, and he’s expected back for the Vegas 4 tourney Monday through Wednesday.
“It was his decision not to play. … I wanted him to play — just because I felt like it didn’t send a great message to the team. But I also have to trust him,” Nagy said.
“He just thought it’d be better if he sat out. It must be something that’s bothering him that he wants to get right. He knows we have three games coming up, too.”
The Raiders fell just short of reaching 100 for the first time in two years, but they made 20 of 27 shots in the second half, allowing the crowd of 2,972 to get involved.
Amari Davis had 17 points, five steals, four assists and four rebounds in 21 minutes. Andrew Welage had a career-high 16 points off the bench. A.J. Braun chipped in 14 points, Tim Finke 13, Brandon Noel 12, Alex Huibregtse 11 and Blake Sisley 10.
The Raiders had a significant size advantage and pounded the ball inside. They took only seven 3′s, making three.
“Everybody shot a good percentage, and I thought we moved the ball around well. Nobody was out there trying to get theirs, I didn’t think,” Welage said.
Nagy agreed: “We didn’t have anyone who acted hungry, like they were going to increase their average. I thought we shared the ball very well.”
MONDAY’S GAME
Wright State vs. Abilene Christian, 7:30 p.m., 980
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