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Post by motorcitysam on Jan 26, 2023 22:38:50 GMT -5
On this date, January 26, in 2013, the Titans went on the road and beat Loyola-Chicago 75-63. The Ramblers did a good job in the first half, slowing the game down and taking a 27-24 lead at the break. Detroit got hot in the second half, hitting 76% of their shots on their way to victory. All five starters scored in double figures, with Ray and JH2 leading the way with 17 each. Juwan hit 8-10 from the floor, and continud to show the scoring ability that added another dimension to the team.
The Titans improved to 13-8, 5-3 in conference play.
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Post by motorcitysam on Jan 31, 2023 0:46:20 GMT -5
On this date, January 30, in 2013, the Titans got back at Wright State in a tough win on the road, 83-76. Ray led the way with 24 points on an efficient 7-11 from the floor, and also chippped in 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals. Nick scored 18, Doug had 15, and JH2 scored 11 to go along with 8 boards and 3 assists. The Titans shot 54% from the floor, and held the Raiders scoreless for a six minute stretch in the second half to take control.
Detroit moved to 14-8, 6-3 with their second road win in a row.
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Post by motorcitysam on Feb 5, 2023 10:40:40 GMT -5
On February 1, 2013, Detroit welcomed Youngstown State and Coach Slocum to Historic Calihan Hall for a rematch of the Titan blowout victory earlier in the season. This one was closer, but still the same result, as the Titans won 88-77. Nick led the way with 27 points, while Ray had 23 points, 6 assists, and 5 steals. Announced attendance was 2126. Doug and Calliste also cracked double figures. Game story and postgame interviews in the link below. detroittitans.com/news/2013/2/1/MBB_0201133623.aspx
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Post by motorcitysam on Feb 7, 2023 12:23:37 GMT -5
On this date, February 7, in 2013, U-D went to the Beer City and beat Milwaukee 82-74. It was the Titans' fourth straight victory, and third straight on the road. The game started with a 20-4 Titan run before the Panthers pulled off a run to tie the game at 33. Detroit trailed 49-46 before taking the lead for good on a dunk by Ray and a jumper by Nick. Four Titans scored in double figures, with Jason leading the way with 22.
This was the third four-game winning streak the Titans would enjoy in the 2012-13 season.
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Post by motorcitysam on Feb 9, 2023 16:09:56 GMT -5
On this date, February 9, 2013, the Titans fell to Green Bay 68-59. Detroit had a three point lead at the half, but went cold in the second. Ray Mac was the high man with 30 points, hitting 12-19 from the floor. The rest of the team, however, was only 10-35.
A troubling sign, and an indicator of things to come, was JH2's performance. Howard shot 0-6 in 35 minutes of action. It was an atypical performance from a player who had ripped off a string of 7 straight double figure scoring games earlier in the season, and had hit double digits six more times. I don't know if this was the game in which Howard suffered a back injury, but a back injury hampered him severely over the last quarter of the season, and it would greatly impact our play going forward.
The Titans fell to 16-9, 8-4 in league play.
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Post by fan on Feb 9, 2023 17:15:31 GMT -5
Does anybody know what JH2 is doing these days?
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Post by motorcitysam on Feb 9, 2023 17:47:54 GMT -5
Does anybody know what JH2 is doing these days? Good question. I don't know.
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Post by motorcitysam on Feb 13, 2023 13:56:48 GMT -5
On February 12, 2013, the Titans returned to historic Calihan Hall and blew out the Cleveland State Vikings by a score of 92-62. I remember this game vividly; I was at the game with my nephew and a few friends, and we had an enjoyable, stress free viewing experience. Detroit led by 18 at the break, and cruised to the win.
Nick led the way with 34 points and 12 boards. He wasn't the high rebounder, though; that was Ray Mac, who grabbed 13 boards to go with his 16 points and 8 assists. Jason scored 19 and became the newest member of the Titans 1,000 point club.
Detroit improved to 17-9, 9-4.
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Post by motorcitysam on Feb 16, 2023 22:03:17 GMT -5
On this date, February 16, in 2013, the Titans got revenge at Valpo, coming back from a double figure halftime deficit to beat the Crusaders. Final score was 84-74. The offense carried the Titans, as they shot 53% from the floor overall, with 50% from three. Nick and Jason scored 21 points each while Ray stuffed the stat sheet with 15 points, 5 boards, and 6 assists. JH2, suffering from that back issue, failed to score a field goal, going 0-4 in 29 minutes. He did have 3 assists and a steal with no turnovers. Evan played a big role with a 12/10 double double.
Trailing by 15 in the second half, the Titans went on a 36-11 run to take control. The Titans went 10-10 from the charity stripe in the final minute. Detroit improved to 18-9, 10-4.
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Post by motorcitysam on Feb 24, 2023 8:08:44 GMT -5
On this date, February 23, in 2013, the Titans fell at Wichita State, 95-79. This was one of those really good Shocker teams; they improved to 24-5 with the victory, and current NBA player Fred Van Fleet came off the bench. The Titans gave them a tough fight for much of the game, cutting the lead to 70-67 in the second half.
Ray led the way with a game high 29 points on 11-20 shooting. Nick had 25 and 7, while Doug hit double figures with 11.
This was part of the old Bracket Busters format, where mid major teams were scheduled to play non-conference games late in the season to bolster their NCAA resume. I wish they still had the Bracket Busters, but it's one of those things that was beneficial to mid majors that the powers that be decided to dump.
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Post by motorcitysam on Feb 26, 2023 23:48:06 GMT -5
On this date, February 26, in 2013, the Titans picked up their 19th win of the season with a 76-75 nail biter over Loyola-Chicago. Detroit had been in control for much of the game, even taking an 11 point lead at one point. The Ramblers fought back and took at 72-69 lead with 2:18 to go and led by 1 with 9 seconds left. The Titans inbounded the ball to Jason, who drove the court and made the layup before time expired. The photo taken during the oncourt celebration is used by The Commissioner as the cover photo for this message board. Ray led the way with the kind of game that had become typical for him, with 22 points on 9-15 from the floor. He also had 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals in 40 minutes of action. Nick had another strong game with 21 points and 7 rebounds. Doug had 14 points, but foul trouble limited him to 26 minutes. JH2 continued his struggles with the back injury, going 0-4 from the floor. With the victory, Detroit clinched the #2 seed in the conference tournament, and the double buy that came with it. The Titans would go out of conference for their next game, a tilt against Temple, rescheduled from December.
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Post by motorcitysam on Mar 1, 2023 1:08:22 GMT -5
On today's date, February 28, in 2013, Detroit traveled to Philadelphia to take on Temple, in a game that had orginally been scheduled for December. I remember listening to this game online, via the Temple basketball flagship station. I tuned in early, and as the local news/talk show being aired prior to the game was ending, one of the host remarked, "Next up is Temple basketball as they take on the...Detroit Titans?" His partner replied, "The Detroit Titans? What's that? Is it a club team? Something like Athletes in Action?" Remember, at the time the basketball team was branded as simply the Detroit Titans; no mention was made in the brand of University. It was a different kind of confusion that what we have now.
As for the game, the Titans fought tough and had an eight point lead at the half. But as was often the case, the Titans seemed to run down as the game got late, due to a short bench, as both recruiting and player development had been impacted by only having two coaches on staff. The Owls took a 53-51 lead in the second half, but there were multiple ties and lead changes the rest of the way. Temple took a three point lead on a trey with a minute left, and managed to hold off the Titans to win 83-78.
Ray led the way with 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. Doug, Nick, and Jason also hit double figures. JH2, still nursing that injured back, only managed 8 minutes and didn't even attempt a shot.
This game concluded a tough six day stretch, with the Titans traveling to Wichita State, playing Loyola at home, and then playing Temple on the road with only one day between those two games. It was a challenge, as both Temple and WSU were 20 plus game winners that season, and the Titans fell just short from grabbing a good win against one of those two.
The Titans fell to 19-11 while Temple improved to 20-8.
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Post by motorcitysam on Mar 3, 2023 1:33:06 GMT -5
On today's date, March 2, in 2013 the Titans closed the regular season with a road win over UIC, 79-67. In his last regular season game as a Titan, Doug Anderson put up one of his best games, with 22 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and a block. Ray had 20, 4, and 4, while Jason chipped in with 18 points and a whopping 10 assists. It was his first career double double.
Red flag: JH2 went scoreless again, still struggling with injury.
With the victory, the Titans clinched the #2 seed in the HL tournament, and recorded their 20th win of the season. It was the 13th 20 win season in Titan history, and the third 20 win season of the Ray Mac era. The Titans finished regular season league play with a 12-4 record.
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Post by motorcitysam on Mar 10, 2023 0:00:01 GMT -5
On today's date, March 9, in 2013, the Titans returned to the court to face Wright State in the HL tournament. It turned out to be a disappointing night, as the Titans fell by a score of 56-54. It took a long time for that knot in the pit of my stomach to go away after watching Raider Miles Dixon score the winning basket with just 1 second left.
Detroit vs Wright State games in this era were defined by each team trying to enforce their style of play on the other. Detroit wanted an uptempo game. WSU wanted a slow pace. This time, the Raiders were able to have it their way. The first half was a nip and tuck battle with both teams failing to take command, resulting in a 29-29 tie at the break. Jason Calliste made a three pointer to tie the game with 1:10 left, and the teams traded misses until Dixon hit the winner on a short jumper.
Jason and Evan score 17 and 15 point, respectively, to lead the Titan attack. Ray had probably his worst game of the year, scoring only 5 points while going 1-7 from the floor. He did have 7 boards and 5 steals. Nick also struggled, going 2-9 from the floor on his way to 8 points. The short roster was a factor again, as was Juwan's injury. The Titans got only 1 point off the bench, an NJ free throw. Juwan was limited to 11 minutes, and barely showed up on the stat sheet, registering only 1 turnover.
It was a bitter loss, and one that would sting for awhile. Heck, it still stings when I think about it.
The Titans would wait for Selection Sunday, hoping for an NIT bid, or an invite to one of the newer, less prestigious tournaments.
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Post by motorcitysam on Mar 20, 2023 20:05:03 GMT -5
On this date, March 20, in 2013, the Titans faced off against Arizona State in the National Invitation Tournament in Tempe, Arizona. The Titans had been off since March 9, and I was hoping that the extra rest would benefit the team and allow some injuries to improve. However, it was not to be.
With the game tied 4-4 the Sun Devils went on a 14-0 run and never lost control. The lead got up to 25 in the first half and was 21 at the break. The Titans fought back to make it a nine point game in the second half, but ASU reasserted control and extended the lead. The final score was ASU 83, Detroit 68. The Titans actually outscored the Sun Devils by four in the second half. Some good things: The Titans shot 26-27 from the free throw line, forced 24 turnovers, and recorded 12 steals. But the PAC 12 opponent was too big and too good. Detroit was outrebounded 41-21.
Jason led the Titans in scoring with 19, while Ray had 16 and four steals. Doug also finished in double figures with 12. Anton Wilson had 9 off the bench. Howard, who wouldn't recover from the back injury until the following season, only played 1 minute.
ASU would lose in the second round to Baylor. The Titans finished the year at 20-13. It was the third 20 win season in the first five years of the Coach Ray era and the most recent 20 win season in Titan history.
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