The Wright State men’s basketball team used its inside presence to wrap up its seventh straight win, and second of the weekend, with a 77-57 victory over UIC on Saturday night.

Loudon Love led all players for the second consecutive night, finishing with 18 points and 10 rebounds for his third straight double-double, while Grant Basile added 17 points of his own as the pair played a big role in the Raiders’ 40 total paint points in the win.

Wright State moves to 15-4 overall and 13-3 in Horizon League play with four regular season games remaining. The Raiders return home for a pair next weekend against Milwaukee before wrapping up the regular season Feb. 19 and 20 at Northern Kentucky.

Love, who tallied nine of his points in the first half, finished the night 6-of-12 from the floor and was 6-of-8 from the free throw line on the way to his ninth double-double of the season. Basile was equally as effective, connecting on seven of his 10 shot attempts, including a pair of three-pointers, while adding five rebounds of his own. Tanner Holden was the third Raider in double digits, finishing with 16 points, and also pulled down eight rebounds of his own.

Jaylon Hall had nine points, including a pair of three-pointers in the second half to help give Wright State some distance on the scoreboard, while Tim Finke was the other Raider with double digit rebounds, grabbing 10 boards and dropping in six points.

The Raiders came out of the gate fast, scoring the first six points of the night before finding themselves up 9-2 after three and a half minutes. Wright State used another 6-0 run to push the lead to double digits in the closing minutes of the first half, ultimately going into the locker room up 36-29 after UIC closed the half on a 6-1 run of its own.

Wright State remained in control, leading by anywhere from 10 to 14 points early in the second half as both sides traded baskets. Holden had a stretch where he scored six straight points for the Raiders as the second half reached its midpoint before Basile and Trey Calvin hit the Flames with a final scoring combination. Over a four-minute stretch, Basile (9 points) and Calvin (five points) outscored UIC 14-7, pushing the Raider advantage from 15 to 20 points, effectively wrapping the night up.

The Raiders finished the night shooting 46 percent (28-of-61) from the floor while connecting on 50 percent (7-of-14) from three-point range. UIC connected at a 40 percent (23-of-57) clip overall and was 5-of-21 (24 percent) from deep. Wright State doubled up UIC in its number of trips to the free throw line, going 14-of-22 (64 percent), while the hosts were 6-of-11 (55 percent).

Wright State won the battle on the boards 38-29 overall with 28 coming on the defensive glass and passed out 13 assists – with three each from Finke, Hall and Love.

UIC finished with three double-digit scorers of its own, led by Michael Diggins’ 16 points, while Maurice Commander (14) and Teyvion Kirk (13) also hit the mark, with Kirk adding 10 rebounds for the lone Flame double-double.

GAME RECAP COURTESY WRIGHT STATE ATHLETICS