Raiders run out of gas in season debut
Wright State opened up their season on Thursday as they hosted the Marshall Thundering Herd. The Raiders had previously been forced to cancel a trip to the University of Illinois due to a combination of COVID-19 protocols and injuries left the team too shorthanded. Wright State last faced off with Marshall in 2007 when the Raiders won at the Nutter Center, 77-70.
It began all Raiders as they came out to a 21-8 lead at the under 12 media timeout. Wright State’s Trey Calvin picked up nine of his 16 points, and Loudon Love eight of his 11. They were primarily quiet the rest of the night.
Love — the Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year — got into early foul trouble, allowing the Thundering Herd to get back into the game. At halftime, they cut the Raiders lead down to 34-29. Coming out of the half, it seemed as Marshall would set the tone for the half with an alley-oop pass and a quick layup.
The Raiders didn’t exactly let that happen, running out to a 45-35 lead with 15:59 remaining. From there, it was all Thundering Herd. They took a 48-47 lead at the under 12 media timeout and never trailed again. Marshall would go on an extended 21-4 run, have it broken up by the Raiders, then take a 60-49 lead at the under 8 media timeout.
The Raiders would give one last effort, cutting the Marshall lead down to four with 5:13 remaining but the Herd finished the game on a 15-3 run, winning by a final score of 80-64.
Taevion Kinsey led the way with 31 points for Marshall. Trey Calvin led the Raiders with 16 points, and Grand Canyon transfer Tim Finke had 10 in his Wright State debut. Tanner Holden scored 13, and was one rebound shy of a double-double. Loudon Love would notch his 35th double-double of his Raider career with 11 points a team-high 16 rebounds.
Wright State will look to rebound on Saturday as they host Miami (OH) at the Nutter Center. Tip-off is at 4:00 and the game will be streamed on ESPN3. Like Wright State, the Redhawks have played just one game this season: an 81-67 victory over North Dakota on November 25.
