Complete game notes (.pdf)

GAME 31
Detroit (15-15, 9-8 HL) at Wright State (18-12, 10-7 HL)
Date:  Feb. 25, 2011 - 7:05 pm EST
Location: Dayton, Ohio
Arena:  Nutter Center
Live stats: wsuraiders.com
TV: ESPNU
Series:  Detroit leads, 19-18
Last season: WSU, 3-0
This season:  Detroit, 1-0
Dec. 4, 2010- Detroit 78, WSU 69
(Jason Calliste- 20 pts.)

ON TAP
Detroit will close out its regular season with a visit to league-rival Wright State Friday.  There is a lot at stake in the finale as Detroit can earn the five seed in the upcoming league tournament.  A loss could still earn the Titans a six seed (and a home game), but would need help in the form of at least one Green Bay loss.

ABOUT WRIGHT STATE
The Raiders are 10-7 in the Horizon League and sport an 18-12 overall mark.  Following the loss to Detroit back on Dec. 4, Wright State has registered two separate four-game winning streaks, but has lost its last three league games, all against the current top three teams in the HL (at Butler, at Valpo, vs. Cleveland).
The Raiders are led by senior guard Vaughn Duggins, who pours-in 17.7 points per contest, second-most in the league.  Friday's game will feature the league's top scoring team (Detroit- 73.8 ppg) against the HL's stingiest defense (Wright St.- 61.2 ppg allowed).

LAST TIME OUT
A late run in the closing minutes lifted the host Drake Bulldogs past the Detroit Titans, 84-76, at the Knapp Center Saturday night in non-conference action.  The Bulldogs (12-16) exploded out of the gate, making 10-of-14 shots in the early going and raced out to a 26-14 lead midway through the opening half.  
Detroit closed the gap and led late in the second half, but the play that acted as the catalyst for the 11-0 run was Eli Holman's fifth personal foul on an over-the-back call with just under four minutes remaining.  The Bulldogs then went on their spurt, scoring six quick points over the next 1:14 and the once-quieted crowd returned with Drake's 78-71 lead as the Bulldogs never looked back.
Drake was led by a 22-point effort by freshman Rayvonte Rice.  Detroit had four players in double figures with Chase Simon's 23, a dozen apiece from Holman and Ray McCallum and 11 more from Nick Minnerath.

TOURNEY SCENARIOS
Detroit is currently sitting in the sixth spot in the Horizon League standings.  With one week remaining of the regular season, UDM's fate is pretty clearly defined heading into Friday.
*Detroit earns the #5 seed with a win over Wright State (teams will be tied at 10-8 and Detroit would have tiebreaker with 2-0 record over WSU).
*The only way Detroit falls to the #7 seed is if the Titans lose to WSU and Green Bay wins BOTH of its remaining league games.  (GB would hold the tiebreaker due to having a better record over the top seeds).
*Any other scenario would give Detroit the #6 seed.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Following the regular-season finale at Wright State, Detroit will enter the Horizon League tournament the following Tuesday.  If UDM earns at least the #6 seed, it will host a first round game at 7:00 p.m. at Calihan Hall.  The quarterfinal and semifinal rounds will be played at the top seed on Friday and Saturday with the championship at the top remaining seed on Tues., Mar. 8.

THE FIRST MEETING
Detroit led wire-to-wire in an impressive 78-69 win against arch-nemesis Wright State in the Horizon League opener for both schools on Dec. 4 at Calihan Hall.  The win snapped a 10-game losing streak to the Raiders for UDM, a run that dated back to the 2005-06 season.
The Titans were in command from the get-go, scoring 10 of the game's first 12 points.  They made their first six shots from the floor and never looked back.  WSU squeezed the deficit down to three in the closing minutes but the exclamation point came with Detroit leading 76-69.  Ray McCallum grabbed a steal and Eli Holman eventually ended the trip with an emphatic dunk to give him 17 points, one of four Titans in double figures.  Jason Calliste had 20 on 4-of-5 shooting-- all from three-point range-- while McCallum added 16 and Chase Simon chipped-in 12.  LaMarcus Lowe had four blocks to go along with six points and three boards.

CHASE-ING 1000
Junior Chase Simon's 23-point outburst at Drake leaves him just 34 points shy of cracking 1,000 for his career (including a season at Central Michigan).  For his Titan career, Simon has 868 points in just 63 games for a 13.8 points per game average in a Detroit uniform.

NEARING MILESTONES
With three games remaining in the regular season, milestones are approaching.  Here's a look at a few in range by season's end.
Career
Chase Simon    966 pts (34 shy of 1,000)
Eli Holman    564 rbs (36 shy of 600)
Eli Holman    124 blks (32 shy of 2nd)

Season
LaMarcus Lowe    75 blks (2 shy of 4th)
Ray McCallum    149 asst (8th)(20 shy of top 5)
Ray McCallum    51 stls    (3 shy of top 10)
Ray McCallum    129 FTs    (20 shy of top 10)

AMONG THE NATIONAL LEADERS
Several Titans have their names appear among the NCAA Division I leaders in the Feb. 20 report.  As the time of the release, junior Eli Holman had 11 double-doubles, which ranked 29th.  He also was 32nd in rebounds per game (9.6).  LaMarcus Lowe was 20th in the NCAA with his 2.5 blocks per game clip.  Ray McCallum's 5.0 assists per game is 51st while Nick Minnerath moved to 76th with his .833 free-throw percentage.

RAY OF LIGHT
Freshman Ray McCallum is among the top freshmen in the country, ranking second in NCAA D-I in total assists at the time of the last national stats report (Feb. 20).  McCallum's 5.0 per game average ranks third among all Horizon League players.  A look at the top 10 freshmen in total assists (through Feb. 20).

NCAA D-I Freshman Assist Leaders
1. Juwan Staten, Dayton        157
2. Ray McCallum, Detroit        149
3.  Jason Brickman, Long Island    138
4. Kendall Marshall, UNC        134
5. Brian Voelkel, Vermont        131
6. Aaron Craft, Ohio State        122
7. Sean McGonagill, Brown        120
    Tyreek Duren, LaSalle        120
9. Kendall Williams, New Mexico    119
10. Evan Roquemore, Santa Clara    115

THE LOWE DOWN
Junior LaMarcus Lowe blocked another shot at Drake Saturday, giving him 75 for the season.  Lowe's block total ranks second in the Horizon League and he now has 18 games with multiple rejections this season.  

Single-season block records at UDM
1. Terry Tyler, 1978 .....................      172
2. Terry Tyler, 1976 ......................     107
3. Terry Tyler, 1977 ......................       86
4. Eli Holman, 2010 ......................      77
5. LaMarcus Lowe, 2011 ..............      75
    Greg Grant, 1992......................       65
7. Stacy Johnson, 1988 .................      63
     Brian Humes, 1986 ...................      63
9. Keith Jackson, 1979 ..................      61
10. Alan Renner-Thomas, 1994 ......      56
       Brian Alexander, 1998 ...............     56
(*block records not kept before 1976)

LEADING THE LEAGUE
Eli Holman leads the Horizon League in both offensive (3.4 rpg) and defensive (6.2 rpg) rebounds per game (9.6 total).  He is also second in field goal percentage, connecting on 60.3 percent of his shots (129-of-214) and is fourth in blocks (1.6 bpg).