A Wright State home loss early in the week opened the door for Oakland to knot things up atop the standings, but the Golden Grizzlies failed to capitalize, meaning the Raiders closed another week at the top. In addition to the competitive race for the crown, fans were treated to an all-time rant, more upsets and the continued late rise of the defending champions. Here’s an updated look at the standings and a recap of the week.
1. Wright State (12-4)2. Oakland (10-6)3. Robert Morris (10-7)Green Bay (10-7)5. Purdue Fort Wayne (9-7)Detroit Mercy (9-7)7. Northern Kentucky (8-8)8. Milwaukee (7-10)9. Cleveland State (6-10)Youngstown State (6-10)11. IU Indianapolis (3-14)
Detroit Mercy 77, Wright State 74
While you might think it would take a handful of big individual games or a heroic individual effort for Detroit Mercy to down top-ranked Wright State in its own building, the Titans grabbed the win over with just two players scoring in double figures. Nine of the 10 players who saw action for Mark Montgomery scored, led by Orlando Lovejoy’s 18 and London Maiden’s 10. Contributions from across the board paved the way for an efficient offensive outing for Detroit Mercy, who connecting on 52% from the field.
Despite losing the free-throw battle by 10 attempts and seven makes and turning the ball over three more times than Wright State, the Titans did just enough to squeeze by. Tyler Spratt was the hero, connecting on a 3-foot shot with 10 seconds to play to give Detroit Mercy the lead.
Michael Cooper missed a 3-pointer for Wright State in the closing second, which put the finishing touches on a monumental win for the Titans. Now, Detroit Mercy has more wins in the league than it did total in 2024-25.
Green Bay 76, Purdue Fort Wayne 59
Green Bay won four games and lost to a Division-II team a season ago. It hosted a game with major Horizon League standings implications on national television on Thursday. In that game, the Phoenix dominated the Mastodons for 40 minutes. Purdue Fort Wayne’s backcourt trio of Corey Hadnot II, Mikale Stevenson and DeAndre Craig Jr. was held to a combined 10-for-27 shooting. Justin Allen, however, was the star for Doug Gottlieb’s team. The senior scored 34 points on an efficient 13-for-20 night from the field, allowing the Phoenix to build a lead early and be in control for the entire game. Justin Allen added 15, and C.J. O’Hara scored 14 to aid Allen’s performance as Green Bay grabbed a huge win to stay alive in the league title race.
Robert Morris 93, Oakland 69
All of a sudden, the defending champs have emerged and are now tied for third in the league. After grabbing its third-consecutive win over Cleveland State on Thursday, Robert Morris throttled second-place Oakland on Sunday. The Colonials’ big three had a monstrous day, each logging double-doubles. Nikolaos Chitikoudis had 20 points and 13 rebounds. DeSean Goode added 18 points and 12 rebounds up front, and Ryan Prather Jr. scored 18 points along with 10 assists. More importantly, Andy Toole saw contributions from his “other guys” as Ta’Zir Smith scored 18 off the bench and Darius Livingston pitched in 15.
Isaac Garrett made his return for the Golden Grizzlies, which meant Robert Morris’ frontcourt had its hands full, and it responded in a big way. As the league tournament draws near, the defending champs are heating up and have a coach that knows what it takes to make a run, making the Colonials as dangerous as anyone.
After a major win on national television on Thursday, Green Bay looked to complete the season sweep of in-state rival Milwaukee, which has been decimated by injuries but continues to play tough. In an extremely competitive game, Gottlieb was assessed a technical foul late, and in a game which never got out of reach in either direction, it proved pivotal. The Panthers, even without many of the names which were expected to lead a championship push, grabbed a 75-72 win. In an animated post-game, Gottlieb expressed his extreme displeasure with the technical, pleading the league’s next commissioner to provide him an adequate explanation on the disparity in officiating. Green Bay lost valuable ground on a potential run at the regular-season title and while it’s not eliminated, would need some help from others to have a real shot.
It was a classic “when it rains, it pours” week for Oakland. Prior to the previously mentioned drubbing at the hands of Robert Morris, the Golden Grizzlies played host to Youngstown State, which closed the week in a tie for ninth place. Four of Oakland’s starters scored in double figures, but it got just five points and a combined 16 minutes off the bench, and couldn’t get the stops necessary to close out a victory. Cam Polak, Cris Carroll and Bryson Dawkins scored a combined 68 points to lead the Penguins to an 86-82 road win.
The season has not been what Bart Lundy and Milwaukee hoped for by any means, but rivalry wins always feel good. In addition to the win over Green Bay, the Panthers beat IU Indianapolis 92-88 at The Jungle. Chandler Jackson scored 25 off the bench, and Amar Augillard led the starters with 17 to offset Maguire Mitchell’s 23 and Kyler D’Augustino’s 22. While preseason Milwaukee thought it would be attempting to close in on a championship right now, given the injury circumstances, stringing together a couple wins late has to feel nice for the program.
Detroit Mercy earned arguably the best win of the week on Thursday, but for a program looking to build a consistent standard of winning, taking care of business against Youngstown State over the weekend was also critical, and the Titans did so. Contrary to Thursday’s win at Wright State when just two players scored in double figures for Montgomery, six players did so in Sunday’s 76-70 victory. Tyler Spratt built on his game-winner with a team-high 15 points and nine rebounds. Both Lovejoy and Maiden had double figures once again. The Titans will enter the new week tied for fifth in the league, another major indicator or the program’s growth.
