Illinois State scored seven of the first eight points of the game and held off a Wright State comeback attempt in the final minutes as the Redbirds defeated the Raiders 69-61 in the season opener for both teams Saturday night at the Nutter Center.

WSU cut the deficit to 13-11 on a Troy Tabler three at the 12:41 mark of the first half and another triple from the sophomore guard made it 26-23 with 5:28 remaining, but Illinois State followed with a 9-0 run, five from Emmanuel Holloway and four by Osiris Eldridge. Wright State again closed to within five before an Eldridge three in the closing seconds made it 41-33 at the break.

Illinois State shot 44 percent from the field over the first 20 minutes, including seven of 13 from three-point range, while the Raiders shot 52 percent from the floor and 10 of 12 at the foul line.

The Redbirds extended the advantage to as much as 13 twice in the second half, the second at 61-48 with 7:14 remaining, but WSU responded with an 11-1 burst over the next six minutes, capped off by a Will Graham layup, to make it 62-59 with just under a minute to play.

A short jumper in the lane by Lloyd Phllips and two Cham Oguchi foul shots, though, gave Illinois State a seven-point cushion and the Raiders would get no closer than five the rest of the way.

ISU shot only 28 percent in the second half to finish at 44 percent for the game while Wright State hit for just 31 percent the final 20 minutes to end up at 39 percent. The Redbirds made 11 of 15 foul shots in the second half to go 15 of 21 for the contest while the Raiders were 16 of 20 overall after going six of eight in the second half.

Wright State led in points in the paint (24-18) and in bench scoring (25-8), but Illinois State held the advantage in points off of turnovers (17-16) and second-chance points (18-13) as they outrebounded the Raiders 37-27.

Vaughn Duggins paced WSU with 12 points, 10 coming in the second half, while Cooper Land had 12 off the bench as 10 Raiders scored altogether.

Eldridge led all scorers with 15 for Illinois State (1-0) while Oguchi posted a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Wright State (0-1) is back in action on Saturday, November 22, with a 2:00 contest at Central Michigan.