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Dayton Daily News, Ohio
Wright State basketball: Raiders open season against Air Force at Nutter Center
- Story byDayton Daily News, Ohio
- Wright State basketball: Raiders open season against Air Force at Nutter Center
Clint Sargent knows some fans at the Nutter Center on Monday, Nov. 2, will root for the visitors from the Air Force Academy against his Wright State Raiders men's basketball team. After all, Wright State distributed 5,000 tickets to military personnel in September.
Sargent hopes to win the support of those fans, so they come back to see Wright State in the future.
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"I'm sure the goal would be that by the end of it they're Wright State fans," Sargent said. "You peel back what jersey everybody's in — peel back who you are, why you're there — and you're just seeing a bunch of young men that are competing for each other."
Wright State plays Air Force at 7 p.m. on the opening night of the college basketball season. The game is sold out. A crowd of 9,672 watched Wright State play Air Force at the Nutter Center two years ago.
"It'll be great," Sargent said. "We're thankful for any support that we've gotten throughout the years. We always feel like we've got a great fan base, but the Nutter Center is big. We're just hoping to serve whoever's there with how hard we play, so we can kind of just give back in a sense. We're going to be joyful as we compete. Then maybe people will want to come back because they saw something in our young people that made them feel connected."
Here are five things to know about the game:
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1: Series history: Wright State leads the series 2-1.
The Raiders won 76-61 on Dec. 8, 2010, at the Nutter Center.
"There were a lot more important things happening here tonight than the score," Wright State coach Billy Donlon said then. "Last night we had dinner with the Air Force team at the Air Force Museum. It was the 69th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, and it became a life-lasting moment."
RELATED: Raiders build confidence in three preseason games
The following season, Wright State lost 55-34 to Air Force in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Raiders set a school record for fewest points scored in a half (13) and in a game.
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In 2024, Wright State beat Air Force 70-57 at the Nutter Center. No one from Wright State who played in that game remains on the roster. Air Force has two players on its current roster who played against the Raiders then: Wesley Celichowski, a 7-foot-1 senior center; and Caleb Walker, a 6-9 senior forward.
2: State of the program: Air Force lost its last 25 games last season and finished 3-29 overall and 0-20 in the Mountain West Conference. That followed a 4-28 and 1-19 season.
In February, Air Force fired Joe Scott, who led the program for six seasons in his second stint at Air Force.
The new coach, Joe Crispin, spent the last three seasons on Mike Rhoades' staff at his alma mater, Penn State.
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He previously coached six seasons at Division III Rowan University. Crispin ranks fourth in career scoring at Penn State with 1,986 points. Air Force has suffered 13 straight losing seasons. It last played in the NCAA tournament in 2006.
3: Scouting report: Air Force and Princeton are the only teams in the country that return all five starters from the 2025-26 season.
Air Force's top returning scorer is sophomore guard Kam Sanders (12.5 points per game). Two other double-digit scorers return: 6-8 sophomore forward Lucas Hobin (11.4); and Walker (10.4).
Crispin talked about his style of play before the season in an interview with the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook.
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"If you want to slay Goliath, you need a slingshot," Crispin said. "You don't just use the sword and the spear. Shooting 3s, playing fast, being super aggressive, taking risks — not stupid risks, but risks nonetheless. Risks other people aren't willing to take, you have to be willing to take. Sometimes, you'll lose playing that way, but that's fine because your other option was to lose. I've always said, 'You might get blown out playing this way, but we were going to get blown out anyway,' so you might as well go for it."
Sargent said he's familiar with Air Force's lineup, but he's going into this game blind because he has no film from the preseason.
"We know coach Crispin," Sargent said. "They're stylistically completely opposite of what Air Force has been. They're going to be running, jumping, trying to speed up the game as much as they can."
4: Local connection: Ethan Greenberg, a 6-4 sophomore guard, is a Centerville High School graduate. He averaged 6.6 points last season.
5: Odds & Ends: KenPom.com gives Wright State a 78% chance of winning and predicts a 79-71 score. Wright State is No. 160 in the Pomeroy ratings. Air Force is No. 265.
