For the second time in program history, and first since 1993, the Wright State men's basketball team is heading to the Big Dance as the Raiders claimed the Horizon League title Tuesday night with a 60-55 win over the Butler Bulldogs at the Nutter Center.

It was Butler that enjoyed the early lead as the Bulldogs scored the first 10 points of the contest, including threes from Mike Green and Julian Betko. Wright State, however, responded with a 15-2 run over the next six minutes, 11 of those coming from DaShaun Wood, to go in front for the first time.

The game was tied three more times in the first half before WSU went up 30-24 at the 2:45 mark on back-to-back threes by Wood and Drew Burleson. It was still a six-point margin until jumpers from Pete Campbell and A.J. Graves in the last minute made it 31-29 Wright State at the break.

Both teams shot the ball well in the first half as Wright State hit for 55 percent overall and from three-point range while Butler was at 48 percent.

A Brian Ligon layup tied the game 44 seconds into the second half, but the Raiders gradually built a 43-35 lead, capped off by a Burleson three with 11:08 remaining.

Back came the Bulldogs, however, as they tied the game again with eight unanswered points, including two Brandon Crone threes.

Butler went in front 52-50 on a Graves three at the 2:57 mark, but that turned out to be the final lead of the night for the Bulldogs as a Burleson layup tied things for the ninth time overall and the Raiders went in front to stay at 55-52 on a Wood three with 1:06 remaining.

A Crone layup with 33 seconds left cut the margin to one, only to see Vaughn Duggins hit one of two from the line at the 29.1-second mark to make it 56-54.

Butler would again close to within one as Crone made one of two free throws with 11.6 seconds to go, but Will Graham sealed the win by hitting all four foul shot attempts the rest of the way.

The Raiders finished the night shooting 50 percent from the floor, including 10 of 22 from three-point range, while Butler was at 44 percent, but just seven of 23 from behind the arc. Wright State held a slight rebounding edge (28-25) and hit 10 of 15 from the line compared to six of 10 for the Bulldogs.

Wood led all scorers with 27 points, 18 coming in the first half, and was named Tournament MVP as he totaled 52 points in two games. Burleson added 15 points, nine in the second half, while Wilson chipped in 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench. Wilson joined Wood on the All-Tournament Team as he had 20 points and 12 boards in two games off the bench.

Crone paced Butler (27-6) with 18 points while Graves had 12 and Mike Green posted a near double-double of eight points and nine rebounds.

Wright State, now 23-9 on the season, will find out its opponent and destination for the NCAA Tournament Sunday evening as CBS broadcasts the pairings at 6:00 Eastern.

Horizon League All-Tournament Team
Blake Schilb, Loyola
Brandon Crone, Butler
A.J. Graves, Butler
Scottie Wilson, Wright State
DaShaun Wood, Wright State (MVP)