BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Four Raiders scored in double figures as Wright State pulled away for a 90-66 victory over Samford on Friday night, November 13, at the Pete Hanna Center, according to Wright State University Athletics. The win moved the Raiders to 4-0 — the program’s first 4-0 start since the 2002-03 season.
Samford jumped out to an early 7-4 lead, but the Raiders answered to tie the game at 7-7 on a Kellen Pickett 3-pointer, according to Wright State Athletics. The Bulldogs built a nine-point advantage midway through the first half, leading 22-13 with 9:19 remaining, before Wright State steadily chipped away behind Ilija Milijasevic and Andrea Holden.
Terrence Hayes knocked down a 3-pointer to tie the game at 30-30 with 3:31 left in the first half, and the Raiders took the lead for good moments later, closing the half with a 10-4 run, Wright State Athletics reported. A CJ O’Hara 3-pointer and a pair of free throws from Isaiah Williams helped Wright State take a 40-34 advantage into halftime.
Wright State carried that momentum into the second half, opening with a Holden jumper and a Milijasevic 3-pointer to push the lead to 45-34, according to Wright State Athletics. Pickett’s 3-pointer at 16:25 stretched the advantage to 54-37, and the Raiders led by as many as 30 points in the second half before closing out the 24-point victory.
Milijasevic led the Raiders with 17 points, connecting on five 3-pointers while adding eight rebounds and three steals, Wright State Athletics reported. Pickett finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and a game-high six assists, while Holden added 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting with seven rebounds. O’Hara and Hayes each scored nine points, Chadlyn Traylor added eight points and four assists, Noah Lewis contributed five points, three assists and two steals, and Williams finished with four points and a block.
The team numbers matched the balance. Wright State shot 36-of-63 (57 percent) from the field, 9-of-18 (50 percent) from 3-point range and 9-of-10 (90 percent) at the free-throw line, held a 39-28 rebounding advantage, dished out 17 assists and scored 39 points off the bench and 52 points in the paint, according to Wright State Athletics. Samford shot 23-of-59 (39 percent) from the field and 5-of-26 (19 percent) from beyond the arc; Will Shaver led the Bulldogs with 15 points and Cooper Noard added 10.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on
What we know: the undefeated Raiders have beaten Air Force and Florida Atlantic at home, then won at Toledo and at Samford, with an average margin of victory of 22.25 points across the four games, according to Wright State Athletics. What we’re still waiting on: whether this start translates once Horizon League play begins — the Raiders are the reigning league champions, and the early schedule has yet to test them the way conference road games will.
Samford, which fell to 1-2, got 15 points from Will Shaver and 10 from Cooper Noard, with Isaiah Campbell-Finch and Ty Davis each scoring nine, according to Wright State Athletics. The Bulldogs never recovered from the Raiders’ closing run in the first half, and Wright State’s 52 points in the paint — against a Samford team that shot just 19 percent from three-point range — showed where the game was decided.
The history underlines how rare this is in Fairborn. In 2002-03, the last time Wright State started 4-0, the wins came against Akron, Cedarville, Miami and Morehead State before a road loss at Ball State, Wright State Athletics reported. The last time the Raiders won more than four straight to open a season was 1985-86, when they began the year 6-0.
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What happens next: the reigning Horizon League champions return home to the Nutter Center on Wednesday, November 18, against Malone, with tip set for 7:30 p.m., according to Wright State Athletics — a chance, in front of the home crowd, to match the 5-0 starts the program has not seen in more than two decades.
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