Wright State men’s basketball team has won seven of their last eight games after dominating Youngstown State with an 81-45 victory at the Nutter Center on Saturday, Jan. 16.
The 36-point spread equals the largest margin of victory in a Horizon League game for the Raiders since defeating UIC 79-43 in the 2009-10 season.
“What the players have done in the last six to seven weeks is phenomenal,” head coach Billy Donlon said. “Take the basketball scheme part out of it. It’s not how we’re guarding the ball screen or what were running on offense, it’s because of those guys in the locker room. That’s why we’re having success.”
The Raiders (10-8; Horizon 4-1) had three players each with 13 points: Senior center Michael Karena and sophomore guards Grant Benzinger and Mark Alstork.
“I’m feeling real confident and we feel real together,” Alstork said. “We’ve got everybody playing together and as a team our chemistry is real high right now.”
Senior guard JT Yoho contributed 12 points off of the bench while senior guard Biggie Minnis finished with six assists and six points.
The Raiders jumped ahead 9-4 in the first 3:18 as Alstork and Karena each scored four early points. Six straight points by Benzinger within 1:21 put the Raiders up 17-8.
Alstork made a jumper with 8:05 remaining in the half to give Wright State a 26-11 lead before Cameron Morse made a jumper to kick start a 9-2 run by the Penguins to make the score 28-20 with 3:58 remaining.
With three seconds remaining in the half, Benzinger drew a foul and sank a 3 pointer to send the Penguins into halftime down 43-26.
“I’m not creating my own shots,” Benzinger said. “I’m really happy that Joe, Biggie and Mook (Alstork) are finding me in open spots. The credit goes to them.”
Karena got things going with five straight points in the second half as the Raiders went on a 10-3 run in the first 3:46 to gain a 24-point advantage.
The Raiders continued to find success as they out-scored the Penguins 20-6 in the next 7:35.
Back-to-back 3 pointers by freshman forward Daniel Mortenson put the Raiders up 73-35 with 8:21 remaining.
Youngstown State (7-12; 2-4) struggled to find a way to put up a run against the Raiders but did out-score the Raiders bench 10-8 in the final 8:21.
WSU forced 19 turnovers leading to 17 points and out-scored the Penguins 32-12 in the paint.
Wright State will be back in action at the Nutter Center on Monday, Jan. 18 as they host Detroit (9-6; 3-1) at 7 p.m.
