DAYTON – The Wright State men's basketball team battled back to within four points on four occasions late in the second half on Saturday night, but the Raiders could not overcome a slow start as they fell 85-77 to Cleveland State in Horizon League action.
 
Wright State (11-10, 4-6 Horizon) trailed by double digits in the first half and as many as 22 early in the second 20 minutes before the second half push got underway down the stretch. A pair of Brandon Noel free throws at the 12:57 mark kickstarted a 16-0 Raider run as they held Cleveland State (12-9, 7-3 Horizon) to a 0-of-6 mark from the field over that stretch and Wright State pulled to within four with 9:17 to play as the visitors were forced into a timeout.
 
Out of the timeout, Cleveland State answered with the next four points for breathing room before a five-point Raider run trimmed the deficit to four again with six minutes to play. After both sides traded baskets, Cleveland State used a Raider turnover and missed shot and a couple baskets of its own to push the margin back to eight points with 4:22 remaining. A pair of Trey Calvin free throws again pulled the Raiders to within four with 1:39 to go, but Cleveland State connected on 9-of-12 free throws over the final minute and change as the Raiders were 2-of-5 from the floor trying to complete the comeback.
 
Calvin's 24 points were a game-high as he went 9-of-11 from the free throw line on the way to his 16th double figure scoring game of the season, while Noel added 16 points and a team-leading six rebounds. Tim Finke was the final Raider in double figures, finishing with 11 points thanks in part to a pair of second half three-pointers as part of the 16-point second half scoring run.
 
Wright State finished the night shooting 48 percent from the floor (25-52) while Cleveland State used a 70 percent first half shooting mark to end with a 59 percent (31-53) clip from the floor as both sides were 43 percent (6-14) from three-point range. The Raiders were 17-of-18 from the free throw line in the second half and were 91 percent from the stripe overall (21-23) as Cleveland State connected at just 57 percent (17-30) from the stripe.
 
Cleveland State forced the Raiders into 12 of their 17 turnovers in the first half as the visitors recorded 21 total points off those turnovers and had a 12-2 advantage in fast break scoring. The visitors won the battle on the boards 31-27 and outscored the Raiders in the paint 38-30.
 
Wright State remains at home next week, first welcoming Milwaukee to the Nutter Center for a Thursday night matchup before the Raiders take on Green Bay next Saturday night as part of Homecoming at Wright State.