Wright State University
7-7
UMKC
3-8
Men Hold Off UMKC
12/21/2013 5:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Wright State men's basketball team built a 19-point lead early in the second half, but had to hold off a UMKC comeback attempt before defeating the Kangaroos 61-49 Saturday night at WSU's Nutter Center.
An 8-0 run broke an 11-11 tie to give WSU the lead for good midway through the first half and the Raiders went into the halftime break up 34-24 as Matt Vest hit a pair of foul shots to close out the period.
Wright State hit 11 of 21 shots in the first half, including three of seven from three-point range, and was nine of 12 at the foul line compared to 41 percent shooting, but just one of 10 from behind the arc and one of two at the foul line, for UMKC.
The Raiders opened the second half by scoring the first nine points, six of those coming from Cole Darling, to go up 43-24 with 16:44 to play, only to see the Kangaroos trim the deficit to seven three times, the second being 51-44 on two Trinity Hall foul shots at the 3:53 mark.
WSU, though, pushed the lead back out to 14 by outscoring UMKC 8-1 over the next 2:25, with six of the points coming at the foul line.
The Raiders finished the game shooting 44 percent from the floor, including four of 14 from three, but went 23 of 28 at the line, 14 of 16 in the second half. The Kangaroos, meanwhile, shot 35 percent, were three of 20 from behind the arc and hit 10 of 14 free throws.
Darling led Wright State with 15 points, 12 coming in the second half, while JT Yoho had 11. Jerran Young had a near double-double of nine points and 11 rebounds off the bench along with four blocks.
Wright State (7-7) closes out the nonleague portion of its schedule on Sunday, December 29, as the Raiders host Bowling Green at 3:00.
