After losing on the road by 15 on Wednesday, Wright State regrouped and rallied around JT Yoho who scored a career-high 25 points in the Raiders’ 86-79 win at Charleston Southern Saturday.
The Raiders improved to 3-1 on the season and handed CSU its first loss of the season after the Buccaneers defeated Mississippi a week ago.
Yoho played in his first game since serving a three-game suspension after an offseason DUI arrest. Yoho made his presence known early and often.
The Raiders shot 57.7 percent from the field and 52.6 percent from beyond the arc. WSU’s offensive effort was needed, as the Raiders were outrebounded 40-26 for the contest.
Yoho was one of five Raiders in double figures. Joe Thomasson pieced together a solid 16-point, nine-rebound performance. Steven Davis, Reggie Arceneaux and Chrishawn Hopkins all were in double figures for WSU.
“How about the way those guys responded, the three guards responded to how we played Wednesday?” WSU head coach Billy Donlon said about Thomasson, Arceneaux and Hopkins. “They were not happy after Wednesday and they came here against a very good team, a senior-laden team and got a great road win.”
Wright State never trailed in Saturday’s contest.
Wright State made its first six baskets and had an early 14-5 lead. But Charleston Southern clawed back into the game preventing WSU from getting a field goal for six minutes. CSU got within two with 11:11 left in the half.
Yoho broke the drought with back-to-back field goals. WSU then jumped out to a 33-20 lead. But CSU rallied once again to get within four just a few minutes later. But Yoho hit a 3 from behind the timeline at the buzzer to give WSU a 42-35 lead at halftime.
WSU got off to a good start in the second half extending its lead to 64-53 with 11:18 left in the half. But a 10-2 CSU run cut the Raiders’ lead to two. But WSU always found an answer.
“To start both halves the way we did was really critical to winning,” Donlon said.
Yoho made five points in a row to extend WSU’s lead back to eight.
The Raiders were able to close out Saturday’s contest with strong free throw shooting. WSU went 84.2 from the line during the game.
Wright State returns home for a few days of practice before returning to South Carolina for a Thanksgiving-weekend tournament at USC Upstate.
