WSU fights past Butler in tourney

[Big D]

Taylor hits key foul shots, Wood is all-around leader as Raiders hang on at home, 61-57
By Marc Katz

Dayton Daily News

FAIRBORN | A 10-point lead melted to two, and Wright State's Jaron Taylor was sent to the free-throw line with 5.6 seconds to play to be the hero Tuesday.

He had already missed two of his previous three free throws in the game.

He didn't miss again.

"You've got to be ready to make the big shot when it presents itself," Taylor said after the Raiders beat Butler, 61-57, in a first-round Horizon League tournament game played before 2,042 at the Nutter Center. "You're always aware of the score. I went up there knowing I had to make these free throws. I knew if I made two, it would put them in a tough situation. They'd have to score four in five seconds. That's almost impossible."

It was the first league tournament victory for WSU since 2001, when the Horizon League was still called the Midwestern Collegiate Conference, and assured the 15-14 Raiders of a second straight season at .500 or better. Friday, they play 12-15 Detroit in a second-round game at Milwaukee, which is hosting at least the second and third rounds.

While Taylor had the final points, sophomore point guard DaShaun Wood orchestrated the victory.

In a game much different from Sunday's regular-season finale —the Raiders beat Wisconsin-Green Bay 94-80 — the halftime score vs. Butler was a scant 23-23, and it was still tied 33-33 when Wood drove the lane for a basket at 13:34.

Then Wood drove the baseline from right to left, feeding Zakee Boyd inside for a layup and a 37-33 as the crowd — kept low by inclement weather — erupted.

A few moments later, following a fifth straight Bulldogs' miss and a time out, Wood banked in another shot, driving the lane on the left and the Raiders were in a comfort zone.

"The crowd may have been only 2,000," WSU coach Paul Biancardi said, "but it sounded like 10,000."

Wood made three more baskets and Zakee Boyd drilled two big 3-point shots as the Raiders pushed the score to 57-47 with 2:30 to play, but that wasn't going to be enough to take the bite out of the Bulldogs, whom the Raiders beat two other times this season in close games — 59-54 at Butler and 61-55 at WSU.

"We missed a couple of key free throws down the stretch and that kept Butler in it," said Wood, who finished with a team-high 17 points but missed one of those free throws. "And they shoot the ball so well. That nine-point run we had gave us a little space.

"Both teams were playing very good defense. It was which team was going to make that big run."

Butler nearly made the last big run, outscoring WSU 10-5 with Brandon Crone and A.J. Graves throwing in 3-point shots (Graves was completely off balance on his) to close the score to 59-57 with eight seconds to play.

Butler also had Brandon Polk, a 6-6 junior, who was seemingly unstoppable with 24 points and nine rebounds, but in the last minute of play the Bulldogs needed 3-pointers, and Polk doesn't shoot those.

Butler also needed to shut down the Raiders and make one more shot, hoping to foul the Raiders and have them miss at the line.

Avery Sheets appeared to tackle Taylor near mid-court, but as he grabbed the WSU junior guard, he tripped, held on, and both crashed to the floor.

Neither was hurt, and Taylor calmly went to the line to finish the night.

"I thought both teams defended pretty well," Butler coach Todd Lickliter said. "I really like the way Wright State plays. They limit you to one shot, they are great in transition defense and they execute extremely well offensively."

Not only did the Raiders win a tournament game for the first time in five years, they have a chance to win a second for the first time since 1995, when they won three rounds before losing the championship game to Green Bay. That tournament was played at the Nutter Center.

To make it to next Tuesday's league championship game, the Raiders will have to beat Detroit in round two and Green Bay in round three. They are 1-1 vs. each.

Wright State's prospects now?

"We have a 50-50 chance," Biancardi said.

Contact Marc Katz at 225-2157.
www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/wsu/daily/0302wsubb.html

[Big D]

Tom Archdeacon: Playing for each other, WSU wins
By Tom Archdeacon

Dayton Daily News

FAIRBORN | For those who look at Wright State's record — now 15-14 thanks to Tuesday night's 61-57 victory over Butler in the Horizon League men's basketball tournament opener — and say it's barely different than last year's final 14-14 mark, Paul Biancardi just shakes his head.

"This team has made tremendous progress in two years, but to see that, you can't just look at wins and losses," the Raiders coach said.

The place to look would have been inside the Raiders' postgame dressing room at the Nutter Center and how it bore no resemblance to the same room a year ago this time.

"I was just a freshman last year, and seeing the seniors there just crying their eyes out, it really hit me," Raiders guard Zakee Boyd said of the scene after WSU had laid an egg in the 2004 tournament opener, losing by 16 to Loyola, a team it had beaten handily twice before.

"I remember Vernard (Hollins) had his jersey over his head and he was sobbing real bad. Tears were streaming down Seth's (Doliboa) face. They had been the big scorers the year before, and they had given up so much personally to play a different game with us freshmen, and it had ended prematurely for them.

"I thought of that all night, and I didn't want Zach Williams (the team's only senior) to go out like that this year. That's one of the best things about (Tuesday). When we walked into the dressing room after this one, there he was grinning and laughing, and he stepped up and told all of us, 'Thanks for getting me one more game.' "

The Raiders advance to the Horizon League quarterfinals, playing Detroit in Milwaukee on Friday.

"After five years and all I been through transferring and sitting out, I couldn't have stood it if we lost," Williams said. "And one by one, those guys made sure I got another game."

Point guard DaShaun Wood finished with 17 points, five rebounds, five assists and served as the Raiders' rudder down the stretch. Reserve guard Jaron Taylor hit two crucial free throws to ice the game after being body-slammed with 5.6 seconds left. And ever the showman, Boyd was fearless from afar, hitting 4-of-5 3-pointers and finishing with 16 points.

"If I make those shots, they call 'em game-breakers," Boyd grinned. "But if I miss, they're on me. We watched films of the last time we played Butler, and I missed a couple and DaShaun was all up on me, saying, 'You shoulda passed.' Tonight, he was the first person to come over and say, 'Zakee. way to shoot.'

"We're really a team this year, and I can see it more than most," Boyd continued. "Everybody knows I went to four different high schools before I came here, so I didn't know anything about family. I never experienced it. But here, I'm seeing it all the time. When you feel a part of something, you react to things differently. Jaron was the starter early in the season, and then when he went to the bench and I started, he came up to me and the first thing he said was, 'No hard feelings.'

"It was the same kind of deal going on with Zach tonight — we were playing for him. But we were playing for ourselves, too. And we're not satisfied just because we're moving on to one more game. We haven't done anything, yet. We haven't gone to the NCAA dance, and that's every team's ultimate goal. If you are competitors, that's the place you really should be looking toward."

Contact Tom Archdeacon at 225-2156 or [e-mail]
www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/wsu/daily/0302arch.html