Basketball | Photo by Soham Parikh | The Wright State Guardian
Wright State University (WSU) Men’s Basketball has turned its season around in recent weeks, taking big wins off of power five school North Carolina State (NCSU) as well as conference opponents in the Milwaukee Panthers (MKE) and the Green Bay Phoenix (GB).
With head coach Scott Nagy and multiple players placed in COVID-19 protocols, the conference wins were not only without several important players but also with associate head coach Clint Sargent forced to act as a head coach for the first time in his career.
After these wins, the Raiders have jumped from a 3-7 mark on the season to 6-7 and have won four straight games. With this newfound momentum behind them, WSU looks in top form to take on conference matchups Thursday and Saturday this week and return to a winning record.
“The adversity this team has faced has been tremendous,” junior forward Grant Basile said. “We’re just starting to come together.”
Make it when it matters
In both of WSU’s conference games last week, it came down to a big 3-pointer in the final minute to decide who would come out on top.
In Thursday's victory over the Panthers, the Raiders were up three with a minute to play. Sophomore guard Andrew Welage brought three defenders to him with a drive to the paint and dished it out to junior guard Tim Finke.
Finke, an expert shooter from behind the arc, drilled a 3-pointer with 35 seconds to play, securing the win for the Raiders 80-75 and lighting up the crowd in the Nutter Center.
“To make that three… The kid works so hard, he doesn’t take a day off of practice.” Sargent said. “As a coach, to see that moment go right for him, those are the kind of moments you love to see.”
Just two days later, WSU found themselves tied 69-69 against the Phoenix, with only 27 seconds to play.
This time, fellow junior guard Trey Calvin secured a win for the Raiders, completely losing his defender with a quick move, and sinking a 3-pointer to win WSU the game 72-69.
“I was going crazy when he hit that, we all were,” Finke said. “There’s never any doubt with him. Every time he shoots it, it looks like it’s going in.”
Stepping up
For Sargent’s first career games as a head coach, very close victories over MKE by five and over GB by three were about as emotional as they could have been.
With support from the rest of the coaching staff keeping him steady and with the belief of his players, Sargent was able to lead the Raiders to big wins in league play.
“They did such a great job of steadying me,” Sargent said. “In these games, there were so many highs and lows of emotions, and they were rock solid.”
While a shift to a new position is never completely smooth, the freedom Nagy has given Sargent and other coaches in the past allowed the transition to be possible.
“In terms of our transition, it was easier than I thought it would have been in a different situation,” Sargent said. “We have a lot of freedom as a staff on how we operate… It allows you to grow so much quicker than a guy who doesn’t do that.”
