Each trailing late, Wright State and Milwaukee used late runs to record key Horizon League victories on Friday night, coming at the expense of Green Bay and Detroit, respectively.
At the Resch Center, Wright State (14-8, 7-3 Horizon) trailed by six points with under two minutes to play but scored eight straight points down the stretch to take a 63-61 contest from Green Bay (11-11, 5-5 Horizon). With 4.3 seconds to play, N'Gai Evans drove to the basket for an uncontested layup, capping the Raiders' spurt.
Rahmon Fletcher's floater from beyond the three-point arc caught the back of the rim as time expired, dropping the Phoenix to .500 on the year in both the Horizon League and overall. Wright State remained within a game of League-leading Cleveland State.
Several runs punctuated the contest, which featured nine ties and 11 lead changes. Before Wright State's final burst, it was Green Bay who assumed control of the game late, breaking a 52-52 tie with a 9-3 run; Fletcher's three-point play accounted for half the lead, while layups from Alec Brown and Jarvis Williams created the six-point advantage with 2:06 to go.
Cole Darling cut the Raider deficit in half before Vance Hall knotted the game with 58 seconds left with a triple from the right wing. Brown missed a hook on the other end on Green Bay's possession, setting the stage for Evans' heroics.
Vaughn Duggins carried Wright State throughout, finishing with a game-high 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Darling, starting for the injured Cooper Land, had 12 points.
Fletcher and Brown each had 12 for the Phoenix, while Williams posted 11 in the defeat.
Either Wright State or Milwaukee (11-11, 6-5 Horizon) will emerge with a sweep of the weekend, after the Panthers closed on an 18-5 run to erase an eight-point deficit and sweep the season series from Detroit (11-11, 5-5 Horizon), 72-67. The Titans had been undefeated this season when leading with five minutes to play, but back-to-back three-pointers from Tony Meier got the Panthers rolling on the closing burst.
Meier closed an 8-0 run on his own with two free throws to cut the deficit to a single point, and after a defensive stand, Ryan Allen followed with a jumper in the paint to give Milwaukee its first lead since 7-6. Kaylon Williams got loose in the paint on the Panthers' next possession, putting Milwaukee up three, 66-63, with 1:46 to play.
Williams then knocked down two free throws after a Detroit turnover to help seal the contest, wrapping up his only four points of the game. Tone Boyle led the way for Milwaukee with 16 points, while Anthony Hill chipped in 13. Meier ended the night with 12, while Allen was the fourth Panther in double figures with 10.
Ray McCallum paced Detroit with 16 points, with Chris Blake close behind with 15 points. Chase Simon had 13 before fouling out, while Eli Holman added 10.
The Titans will head to Green Bay for a Sunday contest, with Detroit looking for the season sweep of the Phoenix.
