Wright State advances to Horizon League finals with upset of Oakland

Senior forward JT Yoho and the Wright State men’s basketball team will play Green Bay for the Horizon League championship March 8 at 7 p.m., with the winner receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. (Photo by Jose Juarez)

For the fifth time in 10 years, the Wright State men’s basketball team will play in the Horizon League Championship game as the Raiders outscored Oakland 6-1 in the final minute to pull out a 59-55 victory in the semifinals March 7 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

Third-seeded Wright State (22-12) will face Green Bay (22-12), who upset top seed Valparaiso 99-92 in overtime in the first semifinal, for the championship Tuesday, March 8, at 7 p.m.

The game will air on ESPN with the winner receiving an automatic bid to next week’s NCAA Tournament.

Monday night, the Golden Grizzlies jumped out to a 7-2 lead and later went up 10-4 on a Max Hooper three before a pair of three-pointers by Daniel Mortensen put Wright State in front for the first time at 16-15.

After Oakland cut the deficit to two on a pair of Martez Walker free throws, Wright State followed with a 14-3 run over a 5:45 span, five coming from Mark Alstork and four by Biggie Minnis, to take a 33-20 lead before the Golden Grizzlies score the final five points of the half.

The Raiders hit 14 of 24 shots in the opening 20 minutes, including four of seven three-pointers, while Oakland made just seven of 20 shots overall and were four of 11 from behind the arc.

Wright State pushed the lead back up to 10 on three occasions early in the second half, the final being 42-32 on a JT Yoho three at the 16:06 mark, before the Golden Grizzlies went on a 15-2 run to regain the advantage at 47-44 with 8:02 remaining.

Back-to-back Yoho baskets gave the Raiders the edge at 48-47, but Oakland went up 52-50 on a Jalen Hayes three-point play at the 3:02 mark.

Another Mortensen three, this time from the left wing, put Wright State back up one before Felder hit a pair of free throws to give Oakland a 54-53 edge with 1:52 to play.

Minnis, though, started the Raiders on their decisive run with a short jumper in the lane with 58.8 seconds left. Felder hit the first of two foul shots at the 50.6-second mark to tie the game for the fourth time, but missed the second, and Wright State took the lead for good on its next possession as Minnis drove along the left side of the lane and found an open Yoho for a jumper at the top of the key with 25.7 seconds to go to make it 57-55.

After Felder missed a layup attempt, Mortensen gathered in the rebound, which eventually resulted in Alstork being fouled and hitting two foul shots with 10 seconds to play to round out the scoring.
The win advances Wright State to the Horizon League championship game for the fifth time in 10 years. The Raiders won the title in 2007 and also appeared in the finals in 2010, 2013 and 2014.

The Raiders shot 51 percent for the game, were six of 13 from three-point range and five of six at the foul line compared to 39 percent shooting, six of 19 from three and 15 of 18 at the stripe for the Golden Grizzlies. Wright State finished with a 28-25 rebounding edge and led 30-20 in points in the paint.

Alstork led the way with 18 points while Yoho added 15, 11 in the second half, Mortensen 11 off the bench and Minnis eight along with five assists and five rebounds.