No. 4 Green Bay 78, No. 3 Wright State 69
No. 4 Green Bay earned their first Horizon League Tournament Championship in 20 years with a 78-69, upset victory over No. 3 Wright State in the Championship Game of the 2016 Little Caesars Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship on Tuesday at Joe Louis Arena.
For the second-straight game, senior guard Jordan Fouse led the Phoenix in scoring, tallying 16 points in the victory en route to being named Tournament MVP. Joining Fouse with the hardware for the All-Tournament Team were Green Bay teammates Carrington Love and Charles Cooper, along with Wright State senior forward JT Yoho and Valparaiso junior guard Alec Peters.
Green Bay held Wright State to 4-for-21 from the field to start the game and jumped out to a 24-11 lead near the midway point of the half. The Phoenix held a 15 point edge with eight minutes remaining in the half, but the Raiders battled back and pulled it with six points after going on a 9-2 run. However, Green Bay continued their hot shooting in the first half (15-for-29, 52%) and held a 42-30 lead at the break.
Wright State’s offensive woes continued into the second half, as the Raiders were only able to tally eight points in the first 10 minutes of action.
Green Bay opened their biggest lead of the game at 19 points when Cooper energized the Joe Louis Arena crowd with a big dunk with 9:41 remaining. Wright State pulled within seven points in the final minute, but Green Bay converted their free throws to earn the Horizon League’s automatic bid into the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship. Wright State was led on the night by senior center Michael Karena who had 13 points in the defeat.
