Dana Wakiji
FOX Sports Detroit
Detroit -- When the final buzzer sounded, freshman point guard Ray McCallum slammed the basketball down as if to put an exclamation point on the win.
The University of Detroit Mercy Titans were clearly more than a little fired up for their Horizon League home opener against Wright State, a team they had not beaten in 10 tries.
The Titans jumped out to an early lead and never trailed, finally defeating the Raiders, 78-69.
McCallum wasn't here for those 10 losses and his father, coach Ray McCallum, hasn't been here for all of them either -- although the Titans did lose three times to the Raiders last season, including in the Horizon League semifinals.
So Saturday was a defining moment for the program.
Before Friday's practice, McCallum wrote the year (2005), the number 10 and the score (69-50) from last year's loss to Wright State in the Horizon League tournament.
"I think the guys wanted it more," said Eli Holman, who had 17 points and 12 rebounds for his sixth double-double. "Like Coach said, he put those numbers on the board and guys really paid attention and they bought into that.
"I'm speechless. I'm just proud of our guys. The way practice was this week, it was great. Our guys didn't want to make it 0-11."
Things did get a little challenging late in the game, when the Raiders cut the lead to three a couple of times and Chase Simon was called for a foul and then a technical foul, knocking him out of the game with three minutes to play.
Then McCallum, despite his freshman status, decided to assert himself. He repeatedly drove to the basket, forcing the Raiders to foul him. He scored eight of the Titans' final 11 points and also had a leaping steal with 30 seconds to go.
Holman sealed it with an emphatic dunk with an assist from McCallum. McCallum finished with 16 points, six rebounds, four assists and just one turnover.
"We really haven't faced a lot of adversity, and that's the thing you wonder as a coach, how our guys are going to respond when they come up against adversity," Coach McCallum said. "When adversity hit, we didn't fall apart, we didn't turn it over, we didn't just let them go to the basket and give them the game -- against a very good backcourt, against a backcourt that has played a lot of games and been a part of a lot of wins in this league. That's what I'm encouraged about."
Coach McCallum was also excited about the performances of McCallum (his son) and Jason Calliste, who led the team with 20 points.
"That's what I'm really encouraged about, two freshman guards going against one of the top backcourts in the conference," McCallum said. "Those guys have been through wars, they've won games.
"The way that Ray and Jason stepped up, it's big for our team. They're going to have the ball. They've got to make plays, they've got to make the right decisions.
"We're challenging them on the other end to keep guys in front of them and cover the three-point line, so major responsibility. I think those two guys can really build off this, confidence-wise, with Jason and Ray."
Holman, a junior, already leads the country in double-doubles.
