Play enough basketball, and eventually you’ll be able to tell stories about injuries to every part of the body: sprained ankles, stubbed fingers, broken noses, sore knees, tender Achilles tendons, bruised heels, etc.

Wright State players know a thing or two about basketball injuries and ice baths and ice packs that go with them. They know every game’s a battle and every play’s an opportunity for the next bump, bruise, strain, sprain or worse.

Somehow, though, the Raiders keep winning. Junior forward Cole Darling returned from a shoulder injury to score 25 points on 8-of-11 shooting at Hofstra on Saturday, and Raiders improved to 7-3 with a 63-57 victory.

Darling had 10 points in the first 9 minutes and 6 points in the last 3 minutes. Coach Billy Donlon described his performance as critical.

“Cole’s start to the game, Cole’s finish to the game, those things are really important,” Donlon said. “I chose to start him obviously because he’s really good but also because I didn’t want him to warm up and sit on the bench and get stiff.”

Darling, who missed the previous game against Virginia Military Institute, a 92-59 victory on Dec. 8, didn’t even know he would play until Friday night. Before Friday, the most he could do all week was practice shooting and dribbling without contact.

“I felt all right on Thursday, and I practiced on Friday and it felt pretty good,” Darling said. “I felt a lot stronger. I was trying to get the motion back and a lot of the strength back. I was just anxious to get back out there. It felt really good to get back in the groove.”

Darling suffered the injury in practice days before the VMI game. It was the same left shoulder he dislocated last season while grabbing a rebound.

“I just dove on a ball, and a guy dove on top of me at the same time,” Darling said. “It popped out. I was pretty upset. I knew I did it. I was just hoping it wasn’t going to be as bad as last year. I’m thankful it wasn’t.”

Darling now leads the team with 14 points per game, though he has only played more than 20 minutes in three games. A head injury in the second game caused him to miss three games.

Darling also had 9 rebounds against Hofstra and made 7-of-7 free throws. He’s 21-of-23 at the line this season (91 percent).

Darling said he would practice this week and would play in the next game at 8 p.m. Wednesday against Miami (3-5) at the Nutter Center, though he’s confident in his team whether he’s on the court or not. The Raiders are 3-1 without Darling.

“They play well without me,” Darling said. “I just feel like having me out there brings energy, and I know I bring a lot of talk to the team on defense. Adding that makes everybody a lot better.”