FAIRBORN, Ohio -- No, Wright State didn't put a lid on BallState's basket in the second half, or make the hoop's circumferenceshrink. It just seemed that way.
After making 14 of 30 shots in the first half -- half of thosetotals 3-pointers -- the Cardinals misfired on all but four oftheir 30 second-half attempts and scored just 13 points afterhalftime in falling at Wright State's Nutter Center, 64-50.
Ball State (2-1) blew an early 15-point lead in losing its firstroad game of the season. Meanwhile, the Raiders recorded theirfirst win against three losses. Coach Tim Buckley said his teamneeds to get back to what entailed success against Xavier andButler.
"Toughness, defense, rebounding -- the things we've been workingon and preaching," Buckley said, listing the main points ofemphasis to come. "We've got to play with more aggressiveness, gotto play tougher. (We) didn't have very good defensive rotations (inthe second half).
"The beautiful thing about it is that practice is going to bemore competitive now because we've got some open spots," he said ofhis team's lack of aggresiveness.
Down 37-28 at halftime, Wright State started the second half ona 14-3 run to take the lead, while the Cardinals missed their firstnine shots from the field. A 3-point play by Vernard Hollins cappedthe run and made it 42-40. After Terrance Chapman's free throwstied it at 42, a 10-0 Raider run put them up for good. SethDoliboa, who led all players with 21 points, had five points in thespurt.
Hollins, a 6-3 guard, followed Doliboa with 15 points and agame-high 14 rebounds.
"Whenever we needed a rebound or needed a basket, they got itfor us," Wright State coach Paul Biancardi said of his two seniorleaders.
Ball State drew within 56-50 when freshman Peyton Stovall drovefor a layup with about three minutes left, but would not scoreagain. A beat-the-shot-clock 3-pointer by DaShaun Wood with justover a minute left put the Raiders up 12 and clinched the game.
"That showed us it was our day today," said Biancardi, whopicked up the first career win, of Wood's calm but almost desperateheave.
"Wright State played a great game and deserved to win," Buckleysaid. "It wasn't like we gave it to them."
In the first half it was the Raiders who were giving it to theCardinals, committing 13 turnovers (20 overall). They committedfive in a row as Ball State snapped a 15-all tie with a 15-0 run.But things began to fall apart for BSU soon after. Wright Statefought back to 35-28 before Stovall's drive and hoop ended thehalf.
The Cardinals canned seven 3-pointers in the first half, but all12 long-range attempts in the second were off. Buckley felt histeam became too reliant on the trey and didn't work the ball insideenough like Wright State did.
"Fool's gold," is what Buckley called his team's early success."When you start making threes, it's fool's gold. You've got to getthe ball inside, drive the basketball, get in the lane. You've gotto get to the free throw line. We didn't do those things. Wesettled too much."
Dennis Trammell drained four 3-pointers for a team-high 14points, but all of that came in the first half. Robert Owens, whopopped off the bench for 10 points before halftime, scored just twoafter it. Stovall and Cam Echols were next with six apiece. TheCardinals took 22 more shots than the Raiders, but were outrounded40-29.
"We just need to come together when things get rough," Owenssaid. "We let a couple calls get to us in the first half, and Ithink it just kind of springboarded and they got momentum in thesecond half."
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