Horizon League Basketball: Takeaways from Wright State victory over Oakland

Wright State won a key battle in the Horizon League tonight against Oakland. Here’s how the Raiders got the big win.

Wright State came into the game trying to build off of last season’s momentum when they shared the regular-season title with Northern Kentucky and lost in the Horizon tournament championship game. The Raiders qualified for the NIT postseason tournament but lost at Clemson in the first round. The season prior, they won the Horizon League tournament and qualified for the NCAA tournament but would lose in the first round to Tennessee.

Oakland, on the other hand, has been in the race for a Horizon League title but has fallen short in recent seasons and has not been a participant to the NCAA tournament since 2011 and last won the Horizon League regular-season title in 2017. Entering the game both teams were undefeated in league play and both teams wanted to be alone in first place in the Horizon League.

Oakland started out the gate hot offensively as they did when they defeated Detroit Mercy in their last game. Xavier-Hill-Mais, Daniel Oladapo, Tray Maddox, and Brad Brechting all lead a balance scoring attack for the Grizzlies early in the 1st half. However, Wright State also began the game playing well offensively as Tanner Holden and Cole Gentry led the charge for the Raiders in the early minutes of the first half. Billy Wampler, Loudon Love, Jaylon Hall played solid in the first half giving Wright State a 26-21 lead with eight minutes to go in the first half as the game was still competitive at that point.

Oakland’s Kevin Kangu scored to cut it to three points but the Raiders came back and extended the lead to nine with just over six minutes left in the first half. Gentry and Trey Calvin were able to help extend Wright State’s lead to 14 with just over three minutes left in the half as the Raiders kept gaining momentum. The Grizzlies Maddox finished the first half on a strong note attacking the Raiders interior defense but was unable to help Oakland stay close in the half. However, the Raiders outside shooting was too much for Oakland’s defense and Wright State went into halftime with a 20 point lead.

In the 2nd half, Wright State continued to dominate the game as they extended their lead with the score being 64-35 to start the half. Hall for the Raiders started off shooting well in the second half to extend the Wright State’s lead to 29 points with just under 14 minutes left in the game. Oakland’s youth showed through out the game as the Grizzlies have 7 freshmen and 5 sophomores on their roster. The Grizzlies did battle early in the 2nd half and Oakland’s big man Babatunde Sowunmi provided a spark off the bench.

However, Wright State was able to keep attacking offensively lead by Wampler ‘s offensive output in the 2nd half which gave the Raiders at 86-57 lead with just over seven minutes remaining in the game. With four minutes left in the game, Wright State extended their lead to 30 points as both teams subbed in their bench players. Wright State ended the game with 96-69 a victory over Oakland to start Horizon League play 3-0 to take sole possession of first place.

3 takeaways

Wright State’s defense held Oakland’s offense in check in the first half

The Raiders offense played very well in the first half but it was their defense which spurred on their offense leading to a 53-33 halftime lead. Wright State had 20 rebounds to Oakland’s 10 in the first half and held Oladapo and Kangu to only six 1st half points. Even when the Grizzlies offense showed some form of life in the 2nd half, their inability to score in the 1st half had created such a deficient that they were unable to recover from. The Raiders defense set the tone early and didn’t give Oakland many opportunities for easy points.

Wright State dominated Point’s off of Turnovers

In the first half alone, the Raiders had 16 to Oakland’s zero points off of turnovers. Hall had two steals and lead the defensive attack for Wright State. The Grizzlies Kangu had four turnovers in the first half alone and Oakland’s offense as a whole was unable to extend the Raiders defense due to shooting 13% from three-point range in the 1st half. Wright State ended the game with a 20 to 6 advantage over Oakland in point’s off of turnovers.

The Raiders three-point shooting

In the 1st half, Wright State shot six for thirteen in the first half for 46% from beyond the arch. Gentry was three for three from three points range to lead the hot outside shooting for the Raiders. Holden’s and Wampler’s back to back made three pointer with just under nine minutes left in the game gave Wright State an 82-55 lead. The Raiders finished the game shooting 47% from three-point land making a total of nine three pointers.