ESTERO, FL – The Wright State men's basketball team tallied 12 of the first 15 points on Wednesday night as the Raiders defeated Illinois State 74-49 in the third-place game at the Gulf Coast Showcase.
Wright State (2-4) now returns home for the holiday and prepares for a quick Horizon League matchup with IUPUI next Wednesday night at the Nutter Center. The contest against IUPUI begins a stretch that'll see five of the Raiders' next six contests at home, with the lone road game on Saturday, December 2 at Davidson.
On Wednesday, the Raiders shot 50 percent in the opening half to jump out to a 39-21 lead at the break, aided by holding Illinois State (3-3) to 27 percent shooting in the first 20 minutes and a 28 percent mark for the night. Wright State ended the win with a 46 percent team shooting mark.
Calvin reached the 20-point mark for the fourth time this season, reaching the mark in the first half after a 8-of-10 shooting mark in the opening 20 minutes. He wrapped up his Florida action with a 10-for-16 shooting night with a 3-for-4 line from three-point range, adding three rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals in 31 minutes.
Brandon Noel had eight points at the break on the way to a season-high 19 points on 6-for-10 shooting with six rebounds, two blocks, an assist and a steal, while six other Raiders also found the scoring column.
After Illinois State tallied the first point of the night via a free throw, Wright State scored 12 of the next 14 points to lead 12-3 before Illinois State made a basket, as the Raiders held the Redbirds to 0-of-5 shooting in the early stretch with a pair of turnovers that led to five Wright State points. Even with missing their first shot of the night, the Raiders opened 8-for-11 from the floor to push the margin to 20-9 eight minutes into the contest and never looked back.
Wright State later used a 13-2 scoring run late in the first half to head to the locker room with a 39-21 advantage before tallying 10 of the first 16 second half points to put the effectively game away, never leading by less than 16 over the final 20 minutes.
Behind Calvin and Noel,
Alex Huibregtse chipped in seven points while
Drey Carter notched his fifth-straight six-point effort off the bench as 11 different Raiders saw action.
Wright State connected on seven three-point baskets, including four in the first half, on the way to tallying a 32 percent clip from deep (7-for-22), while Illinois State had just two made three-pointers, going 1-for-11 from deep in both halves to finish at nine percent. The Raiders ended the night with a 40-36 rebounding edge, including pulling down 32 defensive boards, while they took 17 Illinois State turnovers and converted those into 23 points.
Darius Burford and Kendall Lewis each finished with nine points to lead Illinois State, who also got eight points from both Myles Foster and Brandon Lieb.
