By Packy Moore

12/5/2024

ROCHESTER, MI – Three players finished with 12 points each as the Wright State men’s basketball team connected on 16 made three-pointers but came up one basket short in a 66-64 loss at Oakland Thursday night in the Horizon League opener for both teams.

The 16 three-pointers for Wright State (5-5, 0-1 Horizon) marked the most in a single game in program history, surpassing the previous mark of 15 the Raiders hit February 16, 2020 against IU Indianapolis.

Wright State now has a quick turnaround, taking on Detroit Mercy on Saturday afternoon in a 1 p.m. tipoff on ESPN+ and the Wright State Radio Network.

Oakland (3-4, 1-0 Horizon) took the 66-64 lead with an Allen David Mukeba layup with 69 seconds to play. Wright State had a pair of three-point looks from Brandon Noel and Logan Woods in the final minute that didn’t find the bottom of the net before Oakland missed a pair of free throws with 14 seconds remaining. After timeouts by both sides, Oakland deflected a Raider pass out of bounds in the final moments, with Wright State getting a final shot off with 0.6 seconds remaining, but Alex Huibregtse’s potential winner bounced off iron as time expired.

Wright State clawed out of an early double-digit deficit from the opening minutes thanks to a 13-0 scoring run at the midway point of the half before Oakland took a 37-34 lead into the break. The Raiders tallied five of the first six second half points to lead 39-38 in what turned out to be their last lead of the night as both sides traded baskets and misses throughout the second half.

Huibregtse, Solomon Callaghan and Andrew Welage all finished with 12 points as each connected on four three-pointers, while Jack Doumbia notched 10 points of his own while adding six rebounds. Woods added eight points with a pair of triples and Brandon Noel chipped in six points off two three-pointers and grabbed five rebounds with Michael Imariagbe finishing with four points and four rebounds.

Wright State shot 43 percent overall (22-of-51) with the 16 three-pointers (16-of-31, 52 percent) while Oakland was also at 43 percent overall shooting (23-of-54) as the hosts were 36 percent (9-of-25) from deep. Oakland was 58 percent at the free throw line with 19 attempts (11-of-19) while the Raiders got to the line just five times (4-of-5, 80 percent).

Mukeba led Oakland with 16 points in the win, with Tuburu Naivalurua finishing with 14 and Jayson Woodrich adding 12 in the win for Oakland.

COURTESY WRIGHT STATE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS