DAYTON, Ohio -- An improbably successful season for the Wright State men's basketball team came to an ubrupt end on Wednesday night at the Nutter Center as the host Raiders fell 81-69 to Santa Clara in CBI semifinal action.
The Broncos were led by Kevin Foster, who scored a game-high 33 points -- including 21 in the second half. Evan Roquemore added 16 points and five assists. Santa Clara advances to face George Mason in a best-of-three CBI championship series.
Trailing by two at the break, Santa Clara started the second half with a 12-4 run and didn't look back, outscoring Wright State 47-33 in the period. Eleven second-half giveaways by the Raiders led to 17 points off turnovers by the Broncos in the period, including six fast break points. Santa Clara also took advantage of 11 second-chance points in the win.
AJ Pacher led Wright State with 17 points and eight rebounds in the loss. Jerran Young added 13 points and Miles Dixon poured in 10 off the bench.
Wright State, which was picked to finish last in the Horizon League preseason poll, finished the regular season in third place and was runner-up to Valparaiso in the Horizon League Tournament. Coach of the Year Billy Donlon's squad ends the season with a 23-13 record and will not lose any players to graduate or lack of eligibility.
The Raiders and Broncos jumped out to a 10-10 tie at the 14:17 mark of the first half, but a missed free throw that would have given Santa Clara the lead led instead to an 8-0 run by the Raiders. The Broncos battled back to take a brief 29-28 lead at the 3:30 mark, but JT Yoho hit a pair of free throws with 3:03 to go, putting Wright State back ahead, 30-29.
Santa Clara tied the game again less than a minute before halftime, but Reggie Arceneaux fed Pacher for a monsterous slam dunk to put the Raiders ahead 36-34 heading into the locker room.
