With seconds remaining in a tight contest with Mississippi Valley State, the Wright State men's basketball team turned to senior DaShaun Wood to hit the game-winning shot in a 55-54 victory. The Raiders defeated the Delta Devils 55-54 in their final game of the Hispanic College Fund Classic, played at the Maravich Center on the Louisiana State University Campus on Friday evening.

The Green and Gold raced out to an early 9-2 lead after Wood knocked down a three pointer from the top of the arch. Wood scored seven of the Raiders first nine points before MVSU went on a 12-4 run over the next six minutes to take a 14-13 lead.

Wright State and MVSU traded baskets over the next ten minutes and with the score tied at 21-21. Todd Brown missed a jump shot, but grabbed his own rebound made the lay-up and was fouled. After converting the free throw for the three-point play, Brown gave WSU a 24-21 lead.

Wood capped the scoring with a jump shot from the top of the key and Wright State held a 26-23 after twenty minutes of action. In the first stanza, Wood dropped in 16 points and Todd Brown had four points off the bench.

Mississippi Valley State outscored the Raiders 12-3 to start the second half and led 35-29 with 14:27 remaining in the game. The Green and Gold charged back and tied the game at 46-46 and carried that momentum down the stretch.

With 3:06 left in the contest, Wood picked the pocket of Stanford Speech and raced towards the hoop before drawing the intentional foul and sinking both free throws to give WSU a 53-52 lead.

Trailing by one point with 18 seconds left in the game, the Raiders inbounded the ball to Wood who hit a running lay-up with 8.4 seconds to put WSU ahead 55-54. Wood used a ball screen and scooped the shot around the dangerous shot-blocker Ronald Alexander to put WSU ahead.

In the closing seconds, Mississippi Valley State, now 3-9 on the season, watched as their final shot rimmed out and the Raiders came away with their fourth, one-point victory of the season.

"Our guys found a way to win tonight," head coach Brad Brownell said after the contest. "We started the game playing well and when we started making mistakes they (MSVS) took advantage of them. We attacked their pressure and got ourselves in the bonus early in the second half and were fortunate to make our free throws down the stretch."

Wood led the Raiders attack with 30 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two blocked shots and was a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe. He was named to the All-Tournament Team as he scored 67 points in the three games for a 22.3 per game average, grabbed 14 rebounds and added seven assists, two blocks and four steals.

Scottie Wilson tallied nine points and Drew Burleson was a perfect three-for-three from the floor for six points in the contest. The Raiders shot 46-percent for the game and made 12 more free throws than the Delta Devils in the contest.

"This was a big test for us today and we knew that they were very athletic and would give us their best shot tonight," senior DaShaun Wood told Raider Radio following the game. "Our entire team has played hard all season and we are starting to fully understand what coach wants us to do and we are starting to click on all cylinders. This three-game stretch has gotten us ready for a tough league schedule"

The Raiders move over the .500 mark with a 7-6 record and head into their final tune-up against IPFW before league play gets restarted later next week. The Green and Gold square-off with the Mastodons at 7:00 on Tuesday, December 2 at the Nutter Center.

2006-07 Hispanic College Fund Classic
All-Tournament Team

Stanford Speech, MVSU
DaShaun Wood, Wright State
Randall Gulina, Samford
Tasmin Mitchell, LSU
Dameon Mason, LSU

MVP -- Glen Davis, LSU