Wright State men’s basketball team dropped their second game in consecutive nights as they blew another second half lead in a 65-59 loss to Northern Illinois on Sunday, Nov. 15.
Senior guard Joe Thomasson got the Raiders started with a mid-range jump shot 39 seconds into the game. Thomasson scored five points on a 15-9 run in the first 6:30 but the Huskies responded with a 14-8 run to tie the game at 23 in the next 7:52.
The Raiders (1-2) regained the lead on the next possession as Thomasson found senior forward JT Yoho on a pass setting up a 3 point play. The shot sparked a 9-3 run for the Raiders as they gained an eight point advantage that they would take into the locker room at halftime with a 39-31 lead.
Wright State sank six of 10 three point attempts in the first half and shot 53.6 percent overall. Sophomore guard Grant Benzinger hit three of his five attempts from behind the arc contributing 9 points in the half. Yoho led all scorers with 11 points at the break while Thomasson had 10.
The Huskies came out firing in the second half with a 9-2 run in the first 2:26 to cut the deficit to one point. NIU guard Aaric Armstead found guard Travon Baker for a 3 pointer with 15 minutes to go to give the Huskies their first lead since leading 4-2 early in the first half.
The Raiders went cold in the first eight minutes of the half with only five points on two field goals.
After the Huskies took a 46-44 lead freshman guard Alan Vest knocked down a 3 pointer give the advantage back to WSU.
The Raiders gained a four point advantage with 5:25 remaining after a Justin Mitchell layup but allowed a 6-0 run for the Huskies and found themselves down two points with 1:51 remaining.
Mitchell fouled Armstead on a 3 point attempt with two seconds remaining on the shot clock and 50 seconds remaining in the game. Armstead sank two of three free throws to give NIU a 61-59 lead before Baker hit the dagger with 20 seconds left.
Armstead led all players with 18 points.
Yoho led the Raiders with 16 points but picked up his fourth foul with 10 minutes remaining and didn’t see the court for seven minutes. When he checked back in the Huskies outscored the Raiders 8-2 to close out the game.
Thomasson finished with 15 points and seven rebounds and Benzinger finished with the nine points he scored in the first half as he never attempted a field goal in the second half.
The Huskies attempted 32 free throws compared to nine for WSU.
Wright State will be back in action on Friday, Nov. 20 as they will travel to Rupp Arena to battle the power house Kentucky Wildcats.
