The Wright State men's basketball team put forth a great defensive effort as the Raiders held Loyola, the top-scoring team in the Horizon League, to 25 points below its scoring average in defeating the Ramblers 59-47 at the Gentile Center in Chicago Saturday afternoon.

Loyola led 7-2 after a Kye Patrick jumper with 17:40 remaining in the first half, but WSU eventually gained the lead at 14-13 on a Vaughn Duggins three and extended it to 26-15 at the 7:33 mark with 10 straight points, three each from Drew Burleson and Todd Brown. Wright State then led by as much as 33-21 on a DaShaun Wood layup with five minutes left before taking a 35-25 halftime lead.

The Raiders shot 47 percent in the first half, including four of nine from three-point range, compared to 38 percent for Loyola, who was just one of eight from behind the arc.

Loyola trimmed the deficit to two by scoring the first eight points of the second half, including two Blake Schilb threes, but the Raiders held on to the lead and expanded it back to 44-35 with 12:08 to play on two Jordan Pleiman layups and one from Wood.

The Ramblers made one last push as two J.R. Blount foul shots made it 51-47 with 2:34 left. Loyola, however, would get no closer as Wright State sealed the win by scoring the last eight points of the contest, capped off by a Brown dunk and a layup from Will Graham in the final minute.

Loyola came into the game averaging a Horizon League-best 72.3 points per game this season, but shot 36 percent from the field overall and just three of 19 from three-point range as the Raiders held the Ramblers to their lowest output of the season, the previous being 55 points at the Nutter Center on January 10.

Wright State, meanwhile, shot 41 percent overall and forced Loyola into 17 turnovers while committing only nine.

Wood led the Raiders with 13 points and eight rebounds while Brown had 10, Burleson nine, Duggins nine and Pleiman eight along with eight boards.

Schilb paced Loyola (13-9, 4-5 Horizon) with a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds, but no other Rambler managed more than eight.

Wright State, now 14-8 overall and 7-2 in the Horizon League, continues the three-game road swing on Monday by taking on Green Bay at the Resch Center starting at 8:00 Eastern time.