Men's Basketball Scoreboard (Jan. 5)
Green Bay 79, Wright State 55
On five consecutive made baskets from senior Keifer Sykes (Chicago, Ill.) in the second half on Monday night, junior Jordan Fouse (Racine, Wis.) had the assist. That was a microcosm of the Horizon League opener for Green Bay (12-3, 1-0 HL) at the Resch Center.
Fouse narrowly missed recording the fourth triple-double (16 points, 15 rebounds, 9 assists) in school history, and Sykes scored 23 of his season-high 28 points after halftime as the Phoenix cruised past Wright State (9-7, 1-1 HL) 79-55.
The two teams were tied at 25-25 with 3:51 left in the first half, but Fouse scored four-straight points to start a 9-0 run heading into halftime. Senior Greg Mays (Chicago, Ill.) buried a three-pointer just before the buzzer for a 34-27 lead at intermission. Fouse had 12 points at the break, while Sykes had five points on 2-of-6 shooting.The run extended to 14-1 early in the second half as Green Bay’s lead reached double figures. The Phoenix was in front by 12 at the 12:13 mark, when Sykes took over and made sure the hosts would start their defense of the league title in style.The point guard scored 16 of 21 points during the next eight-plus minutes to turn the game into rout. His third three-pointer of the night made it 75-50 with four minutes remaining. With 1,751 career points, Sykes tied Ron Ripley for fourth place on the program’s all-time scoring list.
Sykes finished the game at 10-of-17 overall, including 8-of-11 in the second half. He reached double figures for the 27th-straight game against Horizon League opponents. In 2013-14, the Horizon League’s Player of the Year averaged 13.5 points in second-half action in conference action.
Led by Fouse, who tied his career high with 15 rebounds, the Phoenix had a 47-29 advantage on the glass. Freshman Daeshon Francis (Indianapolis, Ind.) had eight points and seven rebounds off the bench, including six offensive boards.
Mays reached double figures with 10 points and added five rebounds and a career-high five blocks. The Phoenix, holding WSU to 31.3 percent shooting and just 20 percent in the second half (5-25), tallied 11 blocks on the night, tied for the fifth most in program history.
