DAYTON – In a stop-and-start game that never really found its flow, the Wright State men’s basketball team kicked off the new year with a 72-69 home victory over Green Bay thanks to Trey Calvin’s game-winner with 20 seconds remaining.
 
After a pair of free throws with 2:49 remaining gave the visitors their largest lead of the afternoon at 68-62, Wright State (6-7, 3-1 HL) closed the game on a 10-1 run, punctuated by a Calvin three-pointer from dead on after he faked his Green Bay (2-11, 1-3 HL) defender out of his shoe. On the other end, the Raider defense locked down and forced a pair of contested, off target attempts to close out the win.
 
With the win, the Raiders have now won four straight games and are 4-1 at home this season, where they will host UIC and IUPUI next week to close out the homestand inside the Nutter Center.
 
Wright State, again playing without head coach Scott Nagy and four other individuals within the program’s tier one personnel due to COVID-19 protocols, found itself in foul trouble in the second half as Green Bay used a 13-2 run to pull even at 45-all with 13 minutes to play after the Raiders led 38-32 at the break. From there, both sides traded baskets and it remained a one possession game until a six-point run from the Phoenix gave them a 66-60 advantage with 3:18 remaining.
 
A Calvin layup for the Raiders stopped the run before a pair of Green Bay free throws brought the score to the 68-62 mark when Wright State made its closing run. Calvin and Holden each scored five points in the final stretch, with the Raiders in position for Calvin’s eventual game-winner after Green Bay’s Kamari McGee missing the second of his two free throw attempts with 50 seconds remaining and a Holden rebound to gain possession with the game tied.
 
Holden tallied a game-high 22 points on the way to his first double-double of the season with 10 rebounds. The junior surpassed the 1,000-point mark with a free throw in the first half, and he finished the afternoon 12-of-13 from the free throw stripe while adding a game-leading five assists.
 
Grant Basile turned in an 18-point effort behind a 7-of-9 shooting line that included a pair of three-pointers. Calvin scored nine of his 13 points in the second half, while his game-winner was his only made three-pointer of the afternoon as he added four assists. Tim Finke was the final Raider in double-digits, finishing with 10 points while adding four rebounds.
 
Wright State finished the afternoon shooting an even 50 percent (25-of-50) from the floor while tallying a 6-of-16 (38 percent) mark from three-point range. Green Bay was nearly identical, shooting 51 percent on one fewer shot attempt (25-of-49) while hitting just four of its 13 three-point attempts. In a game that saw 39 total fouls called, both sides went to the stripe 18 times, with the Raiders finishing 16-of-18 (89 percent) and Green Bay at 15-of-18 (83 percent).
 
The Raiders finished with 25 rebounds, including 20 on the defensive glass, while grabbing eight steals and forcing 16 Green Bay turnovers that resulted in 18 points off those takeaways.
 
Wright State has now won 13 of their last 16 contests once the calendar flips to the new year, including the last three games, after Saturday’s win. The Raiders are set to welcome UIC to the Nutter Center in a 7 p.m. Thursday night tipoff before a Saturday afternoon contest against IUPUI closes the home stretch and leads into a five-game road trip.

COURTESY WRIGHT STATE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS