Late Run Sends WSU to Victory

Men's Basketball Scoreboard (Dec. 18)
Wright State 69, Western Carolina 56
#6/5 Virginia 70, Cleveland State 54

Wright State 69, Western Carolina 56
Tied with 6:23 to play, the Wright State men's basketball team outscored Western Carolina 20-7 the rest of the way to defeat the Catamounts 69-56 Thursday night at the Ramsey Center.

WCU led 12-6 early before eight straight points gave the Raiders a 14-12 edge with 12:36 remaining in the first half.  WSU regained the lead at 16-14 on a Reggie Arceneaux jumper and maintained the advantage throughout the rest of the first half, eventually going into the break up 31-24 following a JT Yoho three.

Wright State shot 40 percent from the field overall in the first half, including four of 10 from behind the arc, while Western Carolina shot just 30 percent altogether and missed all five of its three-point attempts.

Baskets from Yoho and Joe Thomasson pushed the lead into double figures to start the second half, only to see the Catamounts rally and tie the game at 49 on a Rhett Harrelson layup at the 6:23 mark.

From there, however, it was all Raiders as a pair of Arceneaux threes started a 19-4 run that made it 68-53 in the final minute, a run that featured eight points altogether from the senior guard.

WSU continued its strong shooting in the second half, hitting for 46 percent to end up at 43 percent for the contest, including eight of 16 from three.  The Catamounts, meanwhile, shot 38 percent overall and were just three of 15 from behind the arc.

Yoho posted a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds to pace the Raider attack while Arceneaux added 15 off the bench and Thomasson chipped in 14.

Virginia 70, Cleveland State 54
Trey Lewis scored a game-high 18 points, but Cleveland State fell at sixth-ranked Virginia, 70-54, on Thursday night in John Paul Jones Arena.

CSU fell to 5-6 this season, while the Cavaliers improved to 10-0.

Lewis hit four three-pointers and added a pair of rebounds, while Anton Grady and Charlie Lee both scored eight points. Kaza Keane scored six points off the bench.

Justin Anderson and Malcolm Brogdan scored 16 points each to lead Virginia.

"I thought we played hard tonight," head coach Gary Waters said. "They are a very good team, worthy of their ranking and have a very strong defense. We had good opportunities, but just missed shots. It was good to play a team like this that gets down and guards you."

The Cavaliers took a 31-18 lead at the half as both teams struggled from the field. The teams combined to shoot just 15-of-46 from the floor, but Virginia used a 15-of-19 effort at the free throw line to build the 13-point halftime lead.

The Vikings did not go to the line in the opening 20 minutes.

"I told them at halftime that was the difference in the game," Waters said. "I thought we did a better job of attacking the basket in the second half."

UVA opened up a 20 point lead (49-29) with 14 minutes to play, but seven straight points by the Vikings brought CSU within 49-36, forcing a Cavalier timeout.

The Cavaliers went to Anderson out of the timeout and he responded with a three-point play to stop the Viking run and UVA would lead the rest of the way.

CSU shot 19-of-52 (.365) from the floor and hit seven three's.

The Cavaliers, who came into the game as the top scoring defense team in the country (47.4 ppg), shot .500 (22-44) from the field and held a 32-26 advantage on the glass.