MYRTLE BEACH, SC – A back-and-forth battle all night long, the Wright State men's basketball team came up one basket short on Friday night as the Raiders fell 77-74 to Bradley in the semifinals of the Myrtle Beach Invitational.
 
Wright State (4-3) now has a day off before closing action on Sunday afternoon in the third-place game against South Florida (3-3), who lost to Middle Tennessee on Friday afternoon. Sunday's game is set for a 1 p.m. tipoff and will be broadcast on ESPN2.

SUNDAY: WATCH ON ESPN2 | FOLLOW LIVE STATS | LISTEN ON 101.5 HANK FM | GAME NOTES 
 
Friday night, the Raiders and Bradley (5-1) played to 16 lead changes and 11 tied scores, the last of which came with 2:25 remaining when Brandon Noel cleaned up a miss with a tip-in bucket to push the score to 71-71. Following a timeout, Bradley broke the tie for what turned out to be for good when Zek Montgomery banked in a three-pointer over a pair of Raiders as the shot clock expired.
 
Bradley extended the margin to five on a pair of free throws with 67 seconds remaining, answered by a pair of Noel free throws on the other end to bring Wright State back to within three with 47 seconds to play. The Raiders forced a Bradley miss on the next possession, but the long rebound was pulled in by Bradley, forcing Wright State to foul with 21 seconds remaining. Bradley only made one of two free throws and Alex Huibregtse was fouled on the other end, making one of his two to keep the margin at three. Bradley was able to inbound the ball and play keep-away in the closing moments to secure the final score.
 
Noel finished with a game-high 26 points, including 15 in the second half as he went 10-of-16 from the floor. Jack Doumbia turned in 16 points of his own, his most as a Raider and one off his career high, filling his stat line with five rebounds, four steals and three assists, while Huibregtse was the third Raider in double figures as he chipped in 13 points. Keaton Norris tallied eight points and four rebounds and Logan Woods added seven points and six rebounds.
 
Wright State finished the night shooting 52 percent overall (27-of-52) and was 9-of-19 (47 percent) from the three-point line, while Bradley connected at 53 percent overall (29-of-55) and was 43 percent (9-of-21). The teams combined for just 20 turnovers and Bradley narrowly won the battle on the glass, 31-27, while the teams were whistled for 29 combined fouls.
 
Five players combined for 63 of Bradley's 77 points, led by Montgomery's 19 points, while Almar Atlason finished with 12 points.