The Wright State men's basketball team jumped out to a big first half lead, but had to hold off a late Chattanooga rally before capturing the Dr Pepper Classic title Sunday night with an 87-82 win over the host Mocs at McKenzie Arena.

It was all WSU early as the Raiders hit 13 of their first 18 shots, including seven of 11 from three-point range, in building a 34-7 advantage with 10:19 remaining in the first half. 11 of those 34 points came from Troy Tabler with Vaughn Duggins adding eight and Todd Brown seven.

The Mocs would get no closer than the halftime score of 50-34 as Wright State shot 64 percent overall, including 10 of 16 from behind the arc, while Chattanooga hit for 48 percent.

A Vaughn Duggins three with 13:04 to play extended the margin to 66-41 and the Raiders still looked to be in control up 77-58 following a Jordan Pleiman layup at the 2:44 mark.

Chattanooga, however, would storm back from there, as the Mocs hit six of eight three-point attempts, five of seven by Stephen McDowell alone, to help cut the deficit to 85-82.

Scottie Wilson, though, sealed the win with two foul shots at the 0.6-second mark.

The win gave Wright State its first in-season tournament title since winning the USAir Classic with wins over Prairie View and Eastern Kentucky at the Nutter Center during the 1992-93 season. It was also the first in-season tournament title on the road for the Raiders since claiming the Colonial City Classic with wins over Ohio Northern and host Kenyon during the 1974-75 campaign.

The Raiders finished the night at 52 percent overall and 48 percent from three-point range while Chattanooga hit for 43 percent altogether and 44 percent from three. Both teams ended up with 27 field goals and 12 threes, but Wright State had the edge at the foul line, going 21 of 30 compared to 16 of 24 for the Mocs.

Duggins, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, led all scorers with 22 points for WSU while Tournament MVP Brown, coming off a career-high 26 Saturday against Belmont, added 21. Tabler finished with 16 off the bench, Pleiman 14 along with eight rebounds, Will Graham eight points and five assists and Wilson, who was the third Raider named to the All-Tournament Team, had six points and seven boards.

McDowell finished with 21 to lead Chattanooga (8-5) while Khalil Hartwell had 13 and Kevin Bridgewaters 10.

Wright State, now 8-3 on the season, resumes Horizon League play on Thursday as the Raiders head to Milwaukee to take on the Panthers. Game time is 8:00 Eastern.

Dr Pepper Classic All-Tournament Team
Todd Brown, Wright State (MVP)
Vaughn Duggins, Wright State
Scottie Wilson, Wright State
Nicchaeus Doaks, Chattanooga
Kevin Goffney, Chattanooga
Shane Dansby, Belmont