FAIRBORN — The Wright State University’s men’s basketball team took care of business on Senior Day Feb. 23 as the Raiders defeated Youngstown State 82-54 at the WSU Nutter Center.
The home game clinched the quarterfinals of the Horizon League Tournament on March 5. The Raiders are now 18-11, 12-4 and have won six straight games and 10 of the last 11. It also marked the fourth straight game scoring 81 or more points. YSU drops to 12-18, 8-9.
“The last three games, we’ve shot the ball well, WSU Coach Scott Nagy said. “If we shoot it well, it opens things up for Loudon (Love) and that showed tonight. Shooting well makes us hard to guard.”
Love led the way with his career-high 26 points while Youngstown native Mark Hughes ended with four threes for 14 points, and Cole Gentry pitched in 12 points. Freshman Malachi Smith continued his strong contributions with seven rebounds and seven assists with three steals. WSU shot 49 percent from the field overall but connected at a 58 percent rate in the first half.
Youngstown State controlled the tip and scored first, but the Raiders took the lead, 5-4, at 18:40 and did not trail again, leading as many as 25 points with 43 seconds remaining.
The second half was much of the same but the Penguins did cut the WSU’s lead to 17 at 13:14. The Raiders went up by 30 with five minutes to go.
Love scored 15 points in the final 20 minutes as the Raiders shot 40 percent from the field. Every Raider player scored in the game as James Manns came off the bench for five points late. Wright State once again scored 18 points inside.
The Raiders hit the road to play at Green Bay Feb. 28 and at Milwaukee March 2 to end the regular season.
For more information about Wright State University athletics visit www.wsuraiders.com.
