MILWAUKEE – Trey Calvin scored eight of the Raiders' nine overtime points Saturday night as the Wright State men's basketball team defeated Milwaukee 78-74 in overtime behind 23 points from Calvin and
Brandon Noel.
Wright State (11-8, 4-4 Horizon) has now won four of its last five, with a Thursday win at Green Bay couple with Saturday's victory giving the Raiders their first Wisconsin road trip sweep since February 2013.
Tied at the break and then at 39-all in the opening moments of the second half, the Raiders went on a 17-1 run over a nearly six-minute stretch to push out to a 16-point lead. Milwaukee, who entered Saturday atop the Horizon League standings, made a push down the stretch behind an eight-point run, eventually tying things up at 69 with just over a minute to play.
Still tied at 69, Milwaukee had multiple chances in the last 15 seconds of regulation, with Noel blocking the first attempt before the Raider defense turned away two final Panther chances in the closing nine seconds to force the extra period.
Milwaukee scored the first basket of overtime before Calvin scored eight of the next nine points, broken only by a lone Panther free throw, to give the Raiders the cushion. After missed shots by both sides,
Tim Finke hit one of two free throws with 16 seconds remaining to push to a two-possession lead, with Milwaukee's final three-point attempt off the mark as Calvin pulled down the night's final rebound.
Calvin and Noel each had nine points at the break to pace the Raiders early on the way to each finishing with 23. Calvin ended the night shooting 10-of-23 from the floor with six rebounds, while Noel shot 9-of-12, just missing his fifth straight double-double as he pulled down a game-high nine rebounds. Finke added five rebounds of his own as the third Raider in double figures with his 11 points, while
AJ Braun added seven points and six rebounds.
Wright State finished the win shooting 44 percent from the floor (30-69) while holding Milwaukee to just 34 percent (26-76). The Raiders hit three three-pointers in each half of regulation (6-28, 21 percent), with Milwaukee 7-of-29 (24 percent). Milwaukee outrebounded Wright State 49-41, with the Raiders pulling down 31 defensive boards. The Raiders led for nearly 35 minutes, while the game featured eight tied scores and 10 lead changes.
Wright State now returns home to the Nutter Center for its next four contests, welcoming Purdue Fort Wayne (Thursday) and Cleveland State (Saturday) to town next weekend before return matchups with Green Bay and Milwaukee in two weeks to close out the month of January.