Wright State men’s basketball team (3-7) dropped their third straight game as they fell 72-67 to Miami (OH) on Sunday, Dec. 13.
“At the end of the day we lost because of their physicality,” Raiders head coach Billy Donlon. “They out-toughed us on drives.”
Senior guard JT Yoho led the Raiders with 17 points followed by sophomore guard Grant Benzinger with 15 and freshman guard Mark Hughes with a career-high 13.
“We did some of the things we wanted,” Donlon said. “Limit turnovers, force turnovers and do a better job on the glass.”
The Raiders got off to a hot start as they held Miami to one field goal within the first seven minutes and lead 13-3.
Over the next six minutes the Red Hawks battled back to cut the deficit to one before a dunk by senior forward Chris Bryant gave them their first lead of the game with four minutes remaining in the half.
Miami took a four point lead with 2:17 to go in the half but sophomore guard Grant Benzinger hit a deep 3 pointer to tie the game at 32 with 54 seconds remaining. A pair of free throws by each team sent them to the locker rooms with a halftime score of 34 all.
The Red Hawks jumped out to a five point lead in the first 1:30 of the second half. Wright State battled back to gain a 42-41 lead after sophomore guard Mark Alstork found Benzinger for a lay-up with 16:16 to go.
The game was tied at 47 until senior guard Biggie Minnis hit a 3 pointer to give the Raiders a 50-47 lead with 10:17 remaining.
The Red Hawks retaliated with a 16- 4 run to gain their largest lead of the game of nine points with 4:49 left. The Raiders battled to cut the deficit to five which was the difference at the end of the game.
Miami had three players each with 13 points; Geovonie McKnight, Eric Washington and Willie Moore.
Wright State will be back in action against Charlestown Southern (3-6) at the Nutter Center on Thursday, Dec. 17 at 7 p.m.
