Excerpt from the Dayton Daily News
Wright State players and fans may have had to battle some jitters for the showdown with Northern Kentucky last week. But coach Scott Nagy was as calm as he would be sitting at church.
Not that he doesn’t get nervous. But his anxiety meter goes up against lesser foes — like Cleveland State.
The Vikings trudged into the Nutter Center on Thursday with the worst record in the Horizon League and an 0-12 mark on the road. And the results were predictable — a lackluster first half and domination when it mattered for an 87-61 win before 4,655 spectators.
“You don’t have to work hard to get our kids ready for the Northern Kentucky game because we knew what was on the line. I knew way ahead of time — I looked at the schedule — that this one would be a tough game to get our kids ready for,” Nagy said.
“In the Northern Kentucky game, you don’t have to be intentional about getting ready. It’s just going to happen. This game, you have to be intentional because the energy’s low. You can feel it in the crowd.
“It’s just human nature. That’s what we’re battling. And I thought our kids really did a good job with that.”
Bill Wampler had 16 points to lead five players in double figures. Parker Ernsthausen had a season-high 14 points, Loudon Love and Alan Vest 13 each and Malachi Smith 11 for the Raiders, who have won nine of their last 10 games. They’re 17-11 overall and tied for first in the Horizon League at 11-4.
Trailing by just five at halftime, the Vikings (8-21, 3-13) had a scoring drought that started with 15:55 left and lasted just over six minutes. A 52-46 deficit ballooned to 61-46 as they missed seven straight shots.
“In the second half, we guarded. We held them to 30 percent (shooting). That’s what won the game,” Nagy said.
