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Solid Wood rallies Raiders WRIGHT ST. PULLS OUT OT WIN (2/8/07)
Visiting Wright State and its Horizon League Player of the Year candidate DaShaun Wood, had something to say about that. Wood scored 24 points to go with nine rebounds, four assists and five steals as the Raiders pulled out a 74-64 overtime victory at the UIC Pavilion. With the victory, WSU (18-8, 11-2) clinched at least second place in the Horizon with a shot at winning the title while handing the Flames their seventh consecutive loss. “Any time you get beat in overtime, it’s a missed opportunity,” UIC associate head Mark Coomes said. “I was extremely pleased with our effort and our intensity.” UIC led for most of the game, but the Raiders were better in the clutch. Wood’s three-pointer with 2:36 left in the overtime put the Raiders up 63-59. “That was a big shot,” Coomes said. “That’s what [Wood] does. That’s the kind of player he is. He made the plays at the end of the game.” T.J. Gray missed an open three-pointer on the Flames’ next possession and Gray fumbled the rebound out of bounds. Wood then drove the baseline and was trapped, but he passed out to Will Graham, who quickly found freshman Vaughn Duggins open for a back-breaking three for a 66-59 WSU lead with 1:39 remaining. “[UIC] beat one of the best teams in the league (Butler) and we knew coming in here it was going to be a dogfight,” Wood said. “We knew it was going to come down to maybe the last possession. In overtime our players just kind of realized that this was our season. We didn’t want to take a step back, we came together and took a step forward.” The Flames couldn’t get closer than six points thereafter. UIC took a 55-54 lead on Othyus Jeffers’ free throw with 1:15 left in regulation, but Drew Burleson hit two charity tosses to put the Raiders back in front at 56-55 with just under a minute to play. Gray tried to answer with a leaner in the lane, but Wood made an acrobatic block from behind, jarring the ball loose to Duggins, who fired the ball back to a streaking Wood for a layup and a three-point lead with 39.1 seconds to play. The Flames came back as Josh Mayo drove the lane and kicked the ball to Robert Bush on the left wing for a game-tying three with 26.4 seconds left. “We didn’t want to give up a three,” WSU coach Brad Brownell said. “We guarded some things pretty well initially. Then they made an over-the-top pass on penetration to Bush, who made a pretty tough shot.” Wood handled the ball for a final shot. He got inside the lane for a floater that fell short with 2 seconds to play and Jeffers grabbed the rebound, but inexplicably the Flames did not call timeout and let the clock expire. In what has become traditional for the Raiders in the last few weeks, it was a team effort behind Wood. Duggins had 13 points, a team-high six assists and five rebounds. Burleson had 13 points and seven rebounds and Jordan Pleiman added 11 points and six boards.
“Our seniors have just willed us,” Duggins said. “They weren’t going to let their senior year be mediocre like it has been [in the past]. DaShaun, Drew, Ty Scott and Reinaldo (Smith), they just picked it up and we’ve been able to play well for a six-week stretch.” Jeffers led UIC (9-16, 4-8) with 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for his 10th double-double of the season. Scott VanderMeer corralled a career-best 14 rebounds to go with nine points and six blocked shots. Mayo and Jovan Stefanov each scored 13 points and Bush added 10 points and eight rebounds. In the first half, the Flames looked like they were going to pull off the upset, leading by as many as seven points. Wood hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 20-20, but UIC went on a 9-2 spurt, capped by a Jeffers’ tip-in and Mayo’s three-pointer. The Flames led 29-22 with 3 minutes left in the half, but didn’t score for the remainder of the period. Wood started to heat up late in the first half, scoring the final five points of the half. “I didn’t start off the game aggressively like I wanted to,” said Wood, who went scoreless for the first 14 minutes of the game. “I took some shots and missed them, but they weren’t very aggressive. When I got it going, things were better.” The Flames led 29-27 at the break and held WSU to just 36 percent shooting in the opening half. “We did play as well as we have been,” Duggins said. “At the end, I think we woke up and played with a little bit of urgency. It wasn’t pretty, but we got it done.” The game was a seesaw affair in the second half with neither team leading by more than five points. The Flames hope to take some positives from this game, going into Saturday’s road contest at Detroit. For one, they allowed just five three-pointers, though two of those came in overtime. They limited WSU to 40 percent from the field. “We have to keep defense like we did tonight,” Stefanov said. “We just have to keep playing hard. For the most part, we played hard, but we came up short.” “We’re just trying to put it together,” Mayo added. “At Youngstown (last Saturday), we had a good offensive flow, but we didn’t play any defense. Tonight our offensive flow wasn’t as good, but our defense was better.” “We have to keep playing. As soon as we can win one, we feel like we can go on a long run.”
“Here’s the way I feel about my guys: They have excellent attitudes. They’re giving a great effort in practice. I feel like they’re really trying. Now, that’s all I can ask them to do. We had a good shot to win tonight, but we didn’t do it. The biggest disappointment for me was the fact that they didn’t win for themselves. I wasn’t about winning for me, I wanted them to win for them, because they deserve that. The bus keeps moving on.” FLAMES FLICKERS: In order to get good rest for Saturday’s game with Butler, WSU took a chartered flight back to Dayton after the game. … Director of basketball operations Bryant Lowe on Jimmy Collins before the game: “He’s feeling better, but he’s probably another couple of months away from going full speed.” … WSU won for just the second time in the Pavilion. The other time? Keion Brooks scored a then-arena record 41 points on Jan. 4, 1999 in a 100-74 Raiders’ win. In an irony, Brooks joined WSU broadcaster Chris Collins in calling the action on press row. … The last time the Flames had a seven-game losing streak was in 2001. They finished that season 11-17 with Cedrick Banks, Martell Bailey and Armond Williams sitting out. … Courtside regulars Spike and “Stomper” created havoc throughout the night, yelling constantly at the WSU bench. After the game, WSU assistants complimented them on their spirit. UP NEXT: UIC travels to Detroit on Saturday for its final regular-season game outside Chicago. Tip time is 3 p.m. and the game can be seen on Comcast SportsNet, as well as on the Horizon League network. WMVP-AM 1000 will stream the game on-line with Mike Kamin and Chris Boden calling the action. Junior guard Brandon Cotton leads the Titans at 18.2 points per game, while senior center Ryvon Covile is fifth in the nation in rebounding at 10.7 per game to go with 13.0 points. Usually dominant at Calihan Hall, Detroit is an uncharacteristic 5-5 at home this season. |
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