Excerpt from the Dayton Daily News
By Tom Archdeacon
With 3:55 left in the game and Wright State about to huddle in front of its bench, Bill Wampler – a towel draped over his head, his 19-point night done as the second stringers were sent in for the mop-up duty – momentarily diverted his attention elsewhere.
When he finally made eye contact with the coach from northern Kentucky, he smiled, waggled a brief, clandestine wave and then mouthed a kiss.
The coach responded with a wave and a big laugh.
But don’t think this lovefest in the rockin’ Nutter Center on Friday night was between Wright State and Northern Kentucky, who have, as Raiders guard Jaylon Hall put it later, “the best rivalry in the Horizon League.”
There were no kisses and waves between these two conference heavyweights as Wright State demolished the Norse, 95-63, in front of the Raiders’ largest and most electrified gathering of the season – a crowd of 6,217 that included Governor Mike DeWine sitting on one baseline and new WSU president Susan Edwards on the other – and a national ESPN audience.
NKU departed the Nutter Center without a smile.
Trevon Faulkner – the team’s second-leading scorer, who went 1 for 9 from the floor and finished with three points, more than 10 below his average – exited the game with a fifth foul that referees called a Flagrant 1 for his rough take down of Wampler on a rebound.
And afterward, Norse head coach Darrin Horn turned down a request from a Dayton Daily News sportswriter for some postgame comments.
So no, Wampler was not looking in the direction of the Norse bench.
