Loyola

[Big D]

Last night was a very nice win for WSU. It was great to see us come out strong at the beginning of the second half again. Those first 5 minutes of the second period seem to be the deciding factor for a WSU victory.

With any luck, Coach B can rest most of the starters against Kenyon on Monday and give some more playing time to our bench. This might be a good chance to get Spencer 25-30 minutes and get his confidence back.

[Raider fan]

Talk about a tough night! The Raiders get a huge win and I get home only to discover our computer had crashed and I won't be able to join in on the chatter on the board.

Just a couple quick observations.

- If Scottie Wilson & Walt Chancellor can continue to play like that of the bench we will win some games I previously didn't think we would. Honestly, this is the first game that Walt was able to finish under the basket. He was always traveling and shuffling his feet when he would get the ball in the low post. Hopefully he's settling in to Div. 1 play and getting more comfortable.

- I appears that PB has found his top 8 players in Wood, Taylor, Graham, Drew, and Jordan starting then Scottie Wilson, Walt, and Tyrone playing double figure minutes off the bench. James Craft and Parysh are playing minor minutes but I still like the fact that they are at least getting on the floor since they are our big men of the future. Again, Everett Spencer's complete benching is strange to me.

- Both Drew and Deshaun are going to play 35 plus minutes but I like how PB gets them mini breaks during the game.

- I wish we could find a way to keep Jordan in the game closer to 28 minutes. He is fearless under the boards and doesn't appear to be to intimadated on the offensive end. I would like to see us work the ball into the post, Jordan to be specific, more often.

- Interesting that Eldridge got in at the end but not Spencer...........I really believe their is more to this story then we know.

As Big D mentioned earlier I hope we can jump on Kenyon early and reward some of our younger guys more minutes. I would love to see guys like Craft, Parysh, Eldridge, and Spencer get at least 15 minutes tomorrow evening.

[Raider Country]

Loyola is a 5 point favorite in the rematch.

kenpom.com/sked.php?team=Wright%20St.&t=p

[Big D]

Ramblermania preview:

www.ramblermania.com/2005-06/wsu022106.htm

[Big D]

WSU game notes:

www.wright.edu/athletics/stats/notes/1140531348.pdf

[Big D]

Loyola's game notes:

loyolaramblers.collegesports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/022106aaa.html

[wsu97]

Smith working way back on court
By Marc Katz

Dayton Daily News

FAIRBORN | Just because a guy isn't playing doesn't mean Wright State coach Paul Biancardi hasn't noticed him.

After logging 20 or more minutes in each of the first three games, junior guard Reinaldo Smith played only 25 minutes over the next 21 games. He had not played in four straight games before playing a minute against Cleveland State.

Yet since that game, Smith began running some plays with the first team, and he played seven key minutes at Bowling Green on Saturday. He ran some more with the first team Monday and Tuesday and likely will get into tonight's game at Loyola-Chicago.

Another guy who hasn't played much is 6-foot-10 freshman James Craft, who has played about six minutes over the last six games.

"He's working hard," WSU coach Paul Biancardi said. "In a couple of years, he'll be real good."

Raider notes

• The Raiders have had so many streaks this season, it's tough to know when they will be good and when they will be bad.

The Raiders have lost four straight twice, won three straight twice and four straight once. During the last five games, they have won, lost, won, lost and won.

"I really think that Bowing Green game was a statement game," Smith said of the 70-51 WSU victory. "We just played well. I think it will carry over. We just have to be focused and ready."

Around the Horizon League, Butler had a six-game winning streak and a three-gamer, but no other winning or losing streaks longer than two. Detroit put its second three-game win streak on the line Tuesday night in Milwaukee, UIC has won three straight only once, Loyola had a three and a four, Green Bay one three and Milwaukee had an eight-game winning streak, a four and a three.

Cleveland State's and Youngstown State's long streaks were all on the losing side.

• Biancardi says he usually doesn't know prior to a game how his team will play.

"The night you think your team is ready, it isn't," Biancardi said. "When you think they are, they aren't. Before the Cleveland State game, I didn't feel good, and I was right. Before the Bowling Green game, I felt good, and I happened to be right. Those are the only two games. There was something in the air.

"Usually, you just don't know."

• At his present rate, junior forward Drew Burleson will not reach 1,000 career points until early next season. With at least three games to play (counting only the first game of the HL tournament), Burleson is 139 points away from 1,000. He's averaging 12.7 on the season.

Contact Marc Katz at 225-2157.

www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/wsu/daily/0222wsunotes.html

[wsu97]

Meija has Loyola by 1 point.

[Raider Country]

I am not sure if I can watch anymore of this. We are down by 12. We can't get a call from the refs. These announcers are complete idiots and having to listen to Loyola's alma mater every timeout makes me want to puke.

[Wolf]

Aggressive teams get calls from the refs and Loyola is being aggressive. WSU is playing this game like it doesn't matter.

[wsu97]

Biancardi should have emptied the bench when we went down by 20 and sat all 5 starters the remainder of the game. I'm sure guys like Craft and Spencer would at least play like they want to be on the court if given the chance. We look like shit tonight!

[Wolf]

Loyola 76
WSU 63 Final

[Big D]

I wish WSU would play with the same intensity and sense of urgency we see from other teams in the HL on a regular basis. I know that we aren't going to win every game, but I would like to see us play hard every game.

Here is the box score if anyone cares.

sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/boxscore?gid=200602220316

[Class of '83]

February 22, 2006 (News Release/Men's Basketball)

Men Fall at Loyola
The Wright State men's basketball team led 25-19 at the 4:18 mark of the first half, but it was all Loyola from there as the Ramblers closed the period with a 17-5 run and then extended the margin by as much as 20 midway through the second half before finishing with a 76-63 decision in Horizon League action at the Gentile Center Wednesday night.

WSU trailed 14-10 before going on a 15-5 run over the next seven minutes, six of those coming from Jordan Pleiman and five from Reinaldo Smith, to take the six-point lead. Loyola, though, scored nine of the next 12 points to tie the game at 28 and then tacked on the final seven of the period to go up 36-30 at the break.

The Ramblers then carried that momentum into the second half as after Wright State drew to within one at 36-35 on a Drew Burleson three and a Pleiman layup, Loyola followed with a 24-5 burst over the next nine minutes, 11 from Blake Schilb, to blow the game open.

Loyola outshot Wright State 50-43 percent, had a 37-26 rebounding advantage and hit 24 of 30 from the foul line to just seven of 13 for the Raiders. The Rambler reserves outscored the WSU bench 25-13.

DaShaun Wood led the Raiders with 18 points and six assists while Pleiman had 12 points and Burleson 11.

Schilb paced all scorers with a double-double effort of 24 points and 12 rebounds for Loyola (16-10, 7-8 Horizon) and added six assists while Majak Kou had 12 points and Leon Young 10 off the bench.

Wright State, now 13-13 overall and 8-7 in the Horizon League, wraps up the regular season Saturday at UIC for a 4:00 Eastern tip. That game will determine if the Raiders will be the third or fourth seed in next week's Horizon League Tournament.

www.wsuraiders.com/cgi-bin/athletics/news.cgi?action=features&id=2648

[Raider Country]

Loyola damages Raiders tourney seeding hopes
WSU needs win vs. UIC for No. 3 seed
By Marc Katz

Dayton Daily News

CHICAGO | That celebration for having secured third place and a No. 3 seed in the Horizon League tournament will have to wait for Wright State — and maybe forever.

The Raiders not only lost 76-63 to Loyola in the Gentile Center Wednesday night, the University of Illinois-Chicago beat Cleveland State, setting up Saturday's game for WSU and UIC as the one for a No. 3 seed in the HL tournament.

The winner earns the seed and a first-round bye. The loser hosts a first-round game.

It could have been much different for the Raiders had they not turned off their offense after about 10 minutes in a game that reversed nearly point-for-point a 77-63 victory over the Ramblers on WSU's campus Jan. 7.

"I liked the way we finished the first half," Loyola coach Jim Whitesell said. With WSU leading 21-16, Loyola closed with a 20-9 run and only increased a 36-30 lead in the second half.

Wright State was so out of sync in the second half co-captain Drew Burleson fouled and was called for a technical for the second straight game with his team trailing 62-47. Just a few minutes before, junior forward William Chancellor was called for an intentional foul after shoving Loyola guard Chris Logan to the ground.

Blake Schilb scored 24 points for the Ramblers, and made all six of his foul shots. Loyola was 24-of-30 from the line, WSU 7-of-13, a discrepancy that led to some of WSU's frustrations.

Even without the No. 3 seed, the Raiders will finish in a third-place tie, their best finish since joining the league then known as the Midwestern Collegiate League for the 1994-95 season.

Contact Marc Katz at 225-2157.
www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/wsu/daily/0223wsubb.html