FAIRBORN, Ohio – Andre Yates scored 14 points, but Wright State used four players in double figures to help the Raiders to a 70-53 win over Cleveland State on Thursday night in the Nutter Center.
Yates, who finished 6-of-13 from the floor, added three assists to lead the Vikings. Kenny Carpenter scored nine points, making four of his five field goal attempts, while Rob Edwards tallied six points and seven rebounds.
Grant Benzinger led the Raiders with 17 points, including a 5-of-8 effort from three-point. Michael Karena scored 16 points, while Mark Alstork added 13 and JT Yoho finished with 11.
The Vikings took their first lead of the game (7-6) five minutes in on an Edwards layup, but the Raiders scored the next eight points to open up a 14-7 lead less than three minutes later.
WSU extended the lead to as many as 12 points (32-20) at the 4:38 mark, but the Vikings were able to slice the deficit to as little as seven points two times before halftime, including on a Yates layup with 10 seconds left to cut the CSU deficit to 39-32.
However, Benzinger drilled a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Raiders a 42-32 lead at the half.
The Raider lead reached 12 points early in the second half before back-to-back baskets from Demonte Flannigan and Jibri Blount cut it back down to eight points (48-40) with just under 14 minutes to play. However, the Raiders used consecutive three-pointers to regain a 14 point lead and led the rest of the way.
CSU finished 22-of-47 (.468) from the floor, while the Raiders hit 10-of-25 (.400) from three-point.
The Vikings are back in action on Saturday (Jan. 16) when CSU plays at Horizon League newcomer Northern Kentucky at 7:00 pm.