DAYTON – The Wright State men's basketball team led from start to finish on Saturday afternoon as the Raiders saw three players tallying double digits, led by Brandon Noel's double-double, on the way to a 67-50 Horizon League victory over Detroit Mercy inside the Nutter Center.
 
Wright State (11-11, 5-6 HL) now gets set to close out the month of January on Thursday night at Youngstown State in a 6:30 p.m. tipoff before returning to the Nutter Center next Sunday, February 2 to host Robert Morris.
 
On Saturday, the Raiders shot 41.4 percent in the first half before finishing the afternoon with a 37.1 percent overall from the floor, its lowest shooting percentage in a win since a January 5, 2020 win at Detroit Mercy when they shot 36.2 percent in the road victory.
 
Wright State opened the afternoon with the first eight points and never looked back and 16 of the first 18 overall as Detroit Mercy (6-16, 2-9 HL) missed its opening eight field goal attempts before finding the scoreboard at the 14:34 mark. The Raiders took a 37-24 lead into the locker room and came out of the halftime break and scored six of the first seven second half points to roll to the win.
 
Noel turned in 11 of his game-high 15 points in the first half on the way to his fifth double-double of the season, grabbing 12 rebounds, also a game-best, and adding five assists, a steal and a block. Keaton Norris also did the majority of his scoring in the first half, tallying nine of his 12 points in the opening frame as he reached double figures for the fourth time in five games. Norris was 4-of-7 from three point range while adding four assists, three rebounds and a steal.
 
Alex Huibregtse was the final Raider in double figures with 11 points to go along with four rebounds and a pair of assists, while Logan Woods added eight points. Drey Carter and Michael Imariagbe each chipped in six points off the bench, with Imariagbe grabbing nine rebounds as well.
 
Wright State was 23-of-62 overall from the floor on the way to the 37.1 percent shooting mark, connecting on nine three-pointers (9-28, 32 percent) for the afternoon, seven of which were in the first half. Detroit Mercy finished with 30.8 percent overall shooting (20-of-65) and was just 1-of-10 (10 percent) from three-point range. The Raiders were 60 percent (12-of-20) at the free throw line while the visitors were 9-of-11 (82 percent).
 
Aided by the combined 21 rebounds from Noel and Imariagbe, the Raiders finished the win with a 52-41 overall rebounding advantage, grabbing 35 boards off the offensive glass, while Wright State passed out 19 assists on its 23 made baskets.
 
Orlando Lovejoy finished with 15 points to lead Detroit Mercy in the loss, while Nate Johnson and TJ Nadeau each had eight points for the visitors.