Men’s basketball beats Youngstown State in regular-season finale, earns 3 seed in league tourney

Junior forward Jerran Young led the Raiders in scoring with 14 points against Youngstown State. Wright State will take on the winner of Tuesday's Loyola at Youngstown State contest on Friday, March 8, at 6 p.m. in Valparaiso.

((Contributed by Wright State Athletics))

The Wright State men’s basketball team shot 62 percent from the field in jumping out to a 20-point halftime lead and went on to defeat Youngstown State 72-45 in the regular-season finale for both teams Saturday at the Wright State University Nutter Center.

With the win and Valparaiso’s 75-56 victory at Green Bay, the Raiders earned the #3 seed in the upcoming Horizon League Tournament. Wright State (19-11, 10-6 Horizon) will take on the winner of Tuesday’s Loyola at Youngstown State contest on Friday, March 8, at 6:00 Eastern in Valparaiso.

The Raiders broke an early 2-2 tie with 11 straight points, five by Jerran Young and four from AJ Pacher, and used another 11-0 run, six by Tavares Sledge, to go up 36-17 with just over a minute remaining in the period.

Wright State hit 16 of 26 shots in the opening 20 minutes for 62 percent compared to six of 20 for YSU.

Wright State’s lead would be no smaller than 19 the rest of the way as the margin grew to as much as 29 on two occasions, including 70-41 on a Jacoby Roddy three-point play with 2:01 to play.

The Raiders shot 56 percent for the game while the Penguins shot 36 percent. Wright State also led 42-14 in points in the paint, 19-3 in points off of turnovers, 12-0 in second-chance points and 11-2 in fast-break points.

Young paced Wright State with 14 points while Matt Vest had 11.  JT Yoho and Pacher each had nine and Sledge eight as 11 Raiders scored overall.

Damian Eargle led Youngstown State (16-14, 7-9 Horizon) with 11 points.