Senior center Michael Karena and sophomore guard Mark Alstork created problems all night for Youngstown State as they combined for 47 points while the Raiders defeated the Penguins 87-81 on Thursday, Feb. 25.
Karena recorded a career-high 26 points while Alstork sank seven of 10 free-throws for 21 points.
Michael Karena attempts a free-throw.
“Mike Karena was phenomenal,” Raiders head coach Billy Donlon said. “Guys were ready. They came here with a sense of urgency and played really well and hard.”
Wright State (18-12; 12-5 Horizon) is tied with Oakland in the Horizon League for second place, but since the Golden Grizzlies own the tie-breaker, WSU will need a victory and a loss by Oakland at Detroit (15-13; 9-8) on Feb. 26 to get the second seed in the tournament.
The Raiders led by 13 with 3:49 remaining before the Penguins (10-19; 5-11) sparked a 10-2 run over the next 2:14.
Mark Alstork attempts a jump shot.
Alstork made a free throw to put WSU up 81-75 with 1:12 remaining, then recorded a steal and made two more free-throws over the next 30 seconds.
“Mark Alstork was outstanding,” Donlon said. “He had to guard Morse who made really hard shots on him. This is where I can go back and say, ‘Mark you guarded one of the best players in the league and you could still produce offensively.’”
Eight seconds later, sophomore guard Cameron Morse sank a three-pointer to cut the deficit back to five, but four free-throws by Wright State put the game out of reach.
Morse sank a three with four seconds remaining and recorded a game-high 29 points for the Penguins.
“I thought we guarded well, they just made shots,” Donlon said. “They were banking them in and we had hands up. They were making hard shots.”
Karena was on fire in the first half as he made six of his first seven attempts for 12 points in the opening 11:15 as he gave the Raiders a two-point advantage at 24-22.
Matt Donlan sank a three-pointer with 3:51 remaining in the half to cut the Raiders lead to four, but Alstork responded with a three 15 seconds later to spark an 11-3 run over the next 3:15. Alstork scored eight points in a 3:07 time span and finished with 11 in the first half.
Senior guard Biggie Minnis made a lay-up, then found Karena for a lay-up with 36 seconds remaining for the Raiders largest lead of the half (15). Minnis recorded eight assists with no turnovers in the game.
Biggie Minnis looks to pass against Miami.
A tip-in by Francisco Santiago with two-seconds remaining made a halftime score of 44-31.
Jordan Andrews sank a jumper with 15:59 remaining to cut the Penguins deficit to nine points, but Wright State retaliated with a 14-6 run over the next 5:30 for their largest lead of 17 points.
The Penguins battled back as Morse scored 18 second half points but could not catch WSU.
Wright State will travel to Cleveland for a battle with Cleveland State (9-21; 4-13) on Saturday, Feb. 26 at Quicken Loans Arena for their regular-season finale. Tip-off will be at 1 p.m.
