After winning three games in three days and six straight, Wright State men’s basketball team fell 78-69 to Green Bay in the Horizon League Championship at Joe Louis Arena on Tuesday, Mar. 8.
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Green Bay locked up the conference’s automatic spot in the NCAA Tournament and will put on its dancing shoes for the first time in 20 years. Jose Perkins scored 16 points and Domantas Sabonis added 15 for Gonzaga. “We’ve worked hard for four years, and it finally paid off”. Defensively, Green Bay yields 80.0 points against the opposing teams. The Phoenix got to the line, shooting 21 more free throws than Wright State, leading to 14 more makes.
Wright State was playing in the title game for the third time in four years, but hasn’t made it to the NCAA Tournament since 2007. “The whole game we believed we were going to make the next shot”.
The Green Bay-Valparaiso Horizon League semifinal was memorable for a number of reasons Monday night.
“We have no time to be exhausted”, Green Bay coach Linc Darner said. “The way I talked about it with our players was, ‘We have to attack this game'”.
Iona 79, Monmouth 76: A.J. English hit a fadeaway jumper with 1:39 left to break a tie and Deyshonee Much followed with a driving layup that he converted into a three-point play as the Gaels (22-10) edged the Hawks (27-7) in the Metro Atlantic Athletic title game in Albany, N.Y.
JoVaughn Love led UAPB, which led 33-29 at halftime, with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Shane Hammink tops in field goal percentage with 53.8 for 8.7 points per game.
Wright State could never really cut into its deficit in the second half. They got contributions from everyone, including 16 points from Fouse, 15 from Charles Cooper, 12 from Kenneth Lowe and 10 from Carrington Love.
Wright State opened the contest by taking an early 6-4 lead at the 17:19 mark of the first half.
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Geoff Robinson is a freelance writer.
