Men Hold Off Youngstown State 74-70

For the second straight game, senior Vaughn Duggins lead the Raiders in scoring with 24 points.

((Contributed by Wright State sports information))

In a game that featured 15 ties and 16 lead changes, it was Wright State that prevailed in the end as the Raiders outscored Youngstown State 7-2 the final 1:18 to pull out a 74-70 win over the Penguins Monday night at Wright State’s Nutter Center.

Neither team had more than a four-point lead during the first half as there were nine ties and six lead changes.  After YSU’s DuShawn Brooks tied it at 38 with a jumper at the 1:33 mark, Vaughn Duggins gave the Raiders a two-point halftime edge on a basket with 31 seconds left.

Both teams shot the ball well in the opening 20 minutes as Youngstown State was 15 of 24 for 63 percent, including six of 12 from three-point range, while Wright State was 17 of 33 for 52 percent.  WSU, though, forced the Penguins into 11 turnovers while committing just three, resulting in a 15-5 differential in points off of turnovers and 8-0 in fast-break points.

The Penguins scored the first seven points of the second half to go up 45-40, only to see the Raiders responded with a 9-2 burst to regain the lead at 49-47 on a Duggins jumper with 13:12 to go, Both teams then held four-point advantages before WSU went back in front 67-66 on a N’Gai Evans three at the 3:03 mark.

Kendrick Perry put the Penguins back ahead on two foul shots with 2:32 remaining before Cole Darling gave Wright State the lead for good on a pair at the line with 1:18 left.  A steal and fast-break basket by Evans extended the margin to three, but Perry connected on a jumper just left of the lane to make it 71-70 at the 36.8-second mark.

Evans, however, hit a pair of foul shots with 17.2 seconds left and, after a missed three attempt by Youngstown State on its next possession, Matt Vest made one of two at the stripe with 8.6 seconds to go to seal the victory.

Both teams cooled somewhat in the second half as WSU shot 39 percent to finish at 46 percent overall while YSU hit for 42 percent to end up at 52 percent for the game.  The Penguins were also 11 of 26 from behind the arc compared to six of 17 for the Raiders.

Wright State, though, hit 16 of 20 foul shots compared to nine of 12 for Youngstown State and the Raiders led in points in the paint (38-20), points off of turnovers (23-7), second-chance points (7-2) and fast-break points (10-0).

Duggins led WSU with 24 points while Evans had 17, 14 coming in the second half, along with eight rebounds.  Darling added 11 points and Vest had 10 points and eight boards.

Vytas Sulskis hit his first nine shots, including six threes, to lead all scorers with 26 points for Youngstown State (8-16, 2-12 Horizon) while Perry chipped in 16, 14 in the second half.

Wright State (17-9, 10-4 Horizon) hits the road this weekend for Indiana, starting with a 7:00 matchup at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Thursday, February 10, against the Butler Bulldogs.  The game can be seen live on ESPNU.