GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) – Behind a career-high 20 points from sophomore guard Khalil Small, the Green Bay men's basketball team triumphed in a tale of two halves on Monday night, overcoming a double-digit halftime deficit to take down Wright State at the Resch Center, 76-68.
Senior guard Carrington Love added 15 points and a team-high four assists—his sixth straight game with 15-plus points—as the Phoenix had four players eclipse double-figures including Jordan Fouse (11 pts/8 reb) and Charles Cooper (10). Head coach Linc Darner also received a pair of major contributions from his bench, as juniors Turner Botz and Tevin Findlay added nine points apiece.
After jumping out to a quick 11-3 lead just three minutes and seven seconds into the contest, Green Bay went ice cold from the field while Wright State caught fire for the remainder of the opening half, as the Raiders outscored the Phoenix by 18, 42-24.
Green Bay shot 36.7 percent (11-of-30) from the floor through the first 20 minutes, connecting on just 10-of-19 of its tries from the line. On the flip side, Wright State shot 52.9 percent (18-of-34), getting 14 points from sophomore guard Mark Alstork to take a 10-point lead into the break, 45-35.
It was an entirely different story in the second half; however, as the Phoenix mounted a furious comeback, grabbing its first lead since it led 26-25 with 9:20 in the first half on a 3-pointer from Love with 11:39 remaining in the game, 55-54. All told, Green Bay hit six of its nine triples after halftime, holding the Raiders to just 38.5 percent (10-of-26) from the floor and 1-of-7 from downtown to distance itself down the stretch.
Despite being outscored by 20 points in the paint, the Phoenix used a 17-point differential (23-6) at the charity stripe and plus-eight rebounding edge (42-34) to win its second conference contest in three days and its ninth game over its last 11 overall. Additionally, the Phoenix has now won five straight against Wright State in the all-time series, which ties the program's longest ever streak against the Raiders, last accomplished from Feb. 20, 1997 – Feb. 18, 1999.
Wright State (7-8, 1-1), who was coming off a dramatic overtime road win at Milwaukee, was paced by senior JT Yoho (17 pts/13 reb) and the aforementioned Alstork, who was held to just three points on two shots after intermission.
Green Bay (9-5, 2-0 HL) will now hit the road for nearly three straight weeks, beginning with games against Cleveland State and Youngstown State on Thursday and Saturday, respectively. The Phoenix will play 10 of its next 12 games away from home, and won't return to the Resch Center again until Jan. 23 against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies.
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