12/1/2022

DAYTON – Tim Finke scored a season-best 18 points on Thursday night for the Wright State men’s basketball team, but the Raiders dropped their Horizon League opener 80-59 to Robert Morris inside the Nutter Center.
 
Wright State (5-3, 0-1 Horizon) scored the first seven points of the night before Robert Morris (3-5, 1-0 Horizon) pulled back to tie the game at 9-all and set up a back-and-forth first half as the visitors shot 64 percent in the opening 20 minutes.
 
The Raiders look to bounce back on Sunday afternoon when they welcome Youngstown State to the Nutter Center for a 1 p.m. tipoff. Youngstown State will enter Sunday also at 5-3 overall and 0-1 in Horizon League play after falling 77-73 in double overtime at Northern Kentucky Thursday night.
 
Finke finished Thursday shooting 7-of-9 from the floor with four three-pointers, adding four rebounds, two steals and an assist to his final stat line. Trey Calvin also finished in double figures with 10 points, adding two rebounds and two assists. Brandon Noel finished just shy of another double-digit effort, collecting nine points as he pulled down four rebounds. AJ Braun and Amari Davis each tallied six points on a combined 6-of-12 shooting.
 
A Noel free throw with 5:05 remaining in the first half gave the Raiders a 32-30 advantage, but Robert Morris closed the half on a 14-4 run to take a 44-36 lead into the locker room. The visitors expanded the lead with nine of the first 13 second half points to control the remainder of the night.
 
Wright State finished the night shooting 42 percent (22-53) from the floor with a 6-of-16 (38 percent) mark from three-point range, while Robert Morris used the 64 percent three-point shooting in the first half to finish at 53 percent (9-17) from deep for the game and 32-of-51 (53 percent) from the floor overall. Th Raiders were 9-of-13 (69 percent) from the free throw line, while Robert Morris was 7-of-9 (78 percent). The visitors outrebounded the Raiders 33-23 with a 38-14 scoring advantage in the paint.

COURTESY WRIGHT STATE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS