Raiders win Horizon League Championship, securing trip to NCAA Tournament

Wright State’s men’s basketball team earned its fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament with a win over Northern Kentucky in the Indiana Farmers Coliseum. (Photo by Joe Craven)

Guard Trey Calvin hit a jumper from inside the free-throw line with 10.5 seconds left to complete a 16-point comeback to earn Wright State a thrilling 72–71 win over Northern Kentucky on Tuesday night to claim both the Horizon League Championship and an automatic bid in the NCAA Tournament.

Wright State’s first-round opponent in the NCAA Tournament will be revealed on Selection Sunday at 6 p.m.

This will be the Raiders’ fourth trip to the NCAA tournament and its first since 2018. The Raiders also qualified for the tournament in 1993 and 2007.

Marques Warrick got himself open off a screen and drilled a 3-pointer with 22 seconds left to put Northern Kentucky in front 71–70, and the Norse had time to take the last shot of the game, but Bryson Langdon had a defender arrive at the same time as the ball and his desperation shot with a hand in his face was off.

The Raiders closed the first half with a 6–2 run to take a 39–32 lead at the half. But Warrick took over in the second half, hitting a jumper and a 3-pointer to push Northern Kentucky’s lead to 44-34. He added a three-point play and three straight jumpers to push the lead to 16 points, 57–41, with 11:47 left.

Calvin took the defensive assignment of guarding Warrick and Tanner Holden took over the Raiders offense, scoring seven points in a 14–0 run that cut the Wright State deficit to 67–66 with 8:37 to play.

Tim Finke hit a mid-range jumper with 6:24 left to tie the game at 61 and Holden drove for a reverse layup to put Wright State in front.

Calvin hit 3 of 5 from behind the arc and finished with 21 points to lead Wright State (21-13). Holden hit 9 of 11 free throws to finish with 19 points and three steals and Finke contributed 10.

Forward Grant Basile scored 18 points, seven rebounds and was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

Wright State finished the regular season with 15 conference wins and earned the fourth seed in the Horizon League tournament. The Raiders beat Oakland 75-63 in the quarterfinals in the Wright State Nutter Center and top-seeded Cleveland State 82-67 in the semifinals to earn a spot in the conference title game.