With a team as young as Wright State’s, with no seniors to be found up and down the roster, younger players are often looked upon to make big plays. Freshman JT Yoho did that in Green Bay Thursday night.
With the Raiders trailing by one, in double overtime, Yoho wasn’t afraid to pull the trigger and buried his fifth three-pointer of the night to give Wright State the 70-68 victory.
Yoho ended the night with a career high 19 points on 7-10 shooting coming off the bench in a night where the WSU bench outscored Green Bay’s non-starters 49-15.
The suspense didn’t begin on that final Raider possession. Junior Cole Darling came up with a clutch steal prior to that possession to give the Raiders a chance to win their sixth road game of the year.
Things looked bleak for the Raiders in the first overtime as well until junior Miles Dixon hit a three-pointer of his own with just one-second remaining to force double overtime.
Raider head coach Billy Donlon praised his team following the victory which moved WSU into sole possession of third place in the Horizon League at 7-4.
“The toughness of our kids is incredible,” said Donlon. “JT (Yoho) was phenomenal with his play overall.”
Green Bay led throughout the first half and extended their lead to as many as 14 before WSU was able to cut the defecit to 32-28 heading into the half. From that point on Green Bay went ice cold from the field shooting just 5-20 in the second half and 3-10 in the overtime periods. WSU also forced 24 Phoenix turnovers which lead to 23 points for the Raiders.
Next up for the Raiders is a trip to Milwaukee to play the last place Panthers who nearly defeated WSU back in Fairborn in January 5. History hasn’t been kind to WSU on this Wisconsin trip as the Raiders have never swept both Green Bay and Milwaukee on the road and haven’t defeated UWM in Milwaukee since the late 1990’s.
That losing streak will try to be lifted at 8:00 p.m. Saturday. The game can be viewed live for free at www.horizonleague.org.
