Troy Tabler gave the Wright State men's basketball team an extraordinary effort with a career-high 24 points, and the Raiders hit 11 free throws down the stretch to claim a 67-54 victory over Youngstown State on Saturday evening at the Nutter Center. YSU took an early lead, but WSU led at the half and extended their lead late to improve to 2-0 in the Horizon League and 5-2 overall this season.

The Penguins hit their first three shots of the game and raced out to an early 6-2 lead and eventually led by nine points at the 13:32 mark when Sirlester Martin hit a jump shot to give Youngstown State a 14-5 lead. WSU would respond with a run of their own, scoring the next 11 points, and took their first lead of the contest when Cory Cooperwood knocked down a jumper to give the Raiders a 15-14 lead.

The two teams would exchange the lead over the next four minutes, before the Green and Gold closed the half on an 8-3 run to take a 28-23 advantage into the half. Closing the half, Troy Tabler connected from three point range, while Tabler added a pair of free throws with second left to account for the margin at the break.

Tabler and Brown paced all scorers with eight points at the break, while Cooperwood pulled down five rebounds and chipped in seven points. WSU shot only 33-percent - compared to 37-percent for YSU - but hit four, three pointers and held the Penguins without a three pointer.

The Raiders extended their lead to eight points twice during the first ten minutes of the second half, with Brown hitting a shot from the corner to push the lead to 39-31 at the 14:27 mark. YSU would cut that lead to only two points at 39-37 with a 6-0 run, that included four free throws, with 12:04 to play.

Wright State quickly get the lead back to eight points when Cooper Land converted a three point play, Tabler knocked down a three pointer and Thomas drained one from three-point land to make it a 48-40 advantage for the home team.

Youngstown State would keep the game within single digits and forced WSU to win the contest from the free throw stripe. After a spurt of three straight WSU steals, followed by break-away layups from Vaughn Duggins, Brown and Tabler, the Green and Gold would make 11 free throws over the final two minutes to extend their lead and claim a 13 point victory.

Tabler paced all scorers with 24 points, setting a career-high, as he hit four three pointers and was a perfect 10-of-10 from the foul line. Brown was the only other WSU player in double figures with 15, while Cooperwood grabbed 11 rebounds and scored seven points.

Wright State forced 23 turnovers, scoring 24 points on those YSU giveaways, and outrebounded the Penguins 33-27. The Raiders shot 37-precent from the field, while Youngstown State finished with a 46-percent total. WSU was 22-of-29 from the free throw line and shot seven-of-18 from three point range in the victory.

The Raiders are now 5-2 overall and improve to 2-0 in Horizon League play with the victory. Wright State will return to action on Tuesday, December 8 with a 7:00 contest at Toledo.