It was a shaky start for the Wright State men's basketball team on Tuesday evening at Loyola, but the Raiders pulled out a 64-52 victory. WSU shot 60-percent in the second half and outscored the Ramblers 35-23 over the final 20 minutes to collect their ninth league win of the season at the Gentile Center.

The pace of the game was slow to start, as the two teams entered the first media timeout with Wright State leading 5-3. After a pair of Justin Cerasoli free throws tied the score WSU went on a 13-5 run over the next eight minutes to build a nine point lead with 6:45 remaining.

N'Gai Evans knocked down a three pointer and Gavin Horne hit a jumper from the right elbow to get the rally started for the Raiders. After Cory Cooperwood converted one of two free throws Evans drove the lane and used a spin move to drop in a layup, making it a 13-8 WSU lead. After a LU layup, Todd Brown ran down a long rebound and hit Cooperwood with a long pass for a layup and Scott Grote used a strong drive to the basket to give the Raiders their largest lead of the half at 19-10.

The Ramblers (12-14, 4-10 HL) used a 10-1 run to tie the score at 20-20 with 3:51 left and the two teams went back and forth for the rest of the half - with no team leading by more than four points - and the game was tied at 29-29 at the half.

Brown paced all scorers with nine points in the first half - adding three assists - while Cooperwood pulled down four rebounds in the opening frame. The Green and Gold shot 36-percent in the opening frame, compared to 32-percent for Loyola, with the Raiders connecting on three three-point field goals. WSU held a 23-22 edge on the boards and WSU turned it over seven times in the first half.

Cooperwood helped Wright State build an early advantage in the second half with six straight points from Cooperwood to open the half. Horne followed that spurt by knocking down a three pointer from the top of the arch, extending the lead to nine points at 38-29.

Later in the half, the Green and Gold extended their lead to ten points on a Brown steal and layup, but a Loyola three pointer slashed the lead to only seven just 30-second later. That was as close as LU would get, as Wright State held the Ramblers scoreless over the next five minutes to push their lead to 56-41.

The Raiders were 15 of 25 from the field in the second half and ended the game shooting 46-percent overall. They connected on four-of-11 from behind the arch and forced 13 turnovers in the game. Loyola held the edge on the boards, 39-38, but WSU dished out 14 assists and collected nine steals in the victory.

Cooperwood tied his career-high with 19 points, while Brown added 18 points to go along with eight rebounds and four assists. Seven total Raiders scored in the contest, with Evans chipping in eight and Ronnie Thomas and Will Graham adding six.

The Raiders will return to their home court for a Saturday evening contest with Detroit on February 14 starting at 7:00. The Raiders - now 15-10 overall and 9-5 in Horizon League play - will close out their season with four of their final five contests at the Ervin J. Nutter Center.