Men’s Basketball closes non-conference slate with six-point win

Monday, December 22

Dayton, OH

7 PM

Wright State University

6-7,1-1Horizon

Eastern Michigan

6-7,0-1MAC

Eastern Mich.

Wright St.

Photo by: Joseph Craven

Men’s Basketball closes non-conference slate with six-point win

12/22/2025 9:55:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

DAYTON – The Wright State men's basketball team wrapped up its non-conference slate with a 70-64 home victory over Eastern Michigan on Monday night, as the Raiders tallied eight of the final 10 points over the final two minutes to seal the win.

Wright State (6-7) now breaks for the holidays before returning to action next Monday, with the Raiders remaining at home and stepping back into Horizon League play against Oakland. Next Monday's game is set for a 7 p.m. tipoff and fans can follow the action several ways – on ESPN+, via live stats or by tuning in to the Wright State Radio Network – 101.5 FM 'The Fridge' and WING 1410 AM. Chris Collins and Jim Brown will have all the play-by-play action on the radio and television feeds.

Tied at 62 after a free throw by Eastern Michigan (6-7) with 2:04 to play, Michael Cooper scored the next four points to give the Raiders the lead for good as part of that 8-2 closing stretch. Defensively, the Raiders held Eastern Michigan to 0-of-3 from the floor in the closing moments with a turnover as the visitors tallied both points at the free throw line. Wright State was 6-of-9 from the free throw stripe over the final two minutes to close out the win.

Monday night was tight throughout, featuring 14 ties and 14 lead changes, while the Raiders' largest lead was seven at the end of the night. Eastern Michigan's largest lead was just four, coming with just over four minutes to play in the first half before Wright State closed the half with 11 of the final 17 points to take a one-point, 34-33 lead into the break.

The second half followed the same back-and-forth script of the first 20 minutes, with Eastern Michigan capping a quick, six-point run with the free throws to tie the game at 62 and set up the Raider closing scoring stretch.

Five Raiders finished with double-digit scoring efforts, as the group combined for all but five of Wright State's 70 points, with Cooper leading the way with a game-high 18 points and adding six rebounds. Michael Imariagbe turned in a solid night with 13 points and eight rebounds, while TJ Burch and Dominic Pangonis each finished with 12 points as Burch had a complete stat line with four steals, three assists and three rebounds and Pangonis added a game-best five assists with four boards of his own.

Kellen Pickett was the final Wright State player in double figures, scoring 10 points and pulling down a game- and career-best nine rebounds. Logan Woods scored five points, all in the second half, including a key three-pointer, and grabbing three rebounds.

Wright State finished the win shooting 46 percent overall (23-of-50), hitting just four three-pointers (4-of-15, 27 percent) but going 20-of-32 (63 percent) at the free throw stripe, including hitting 12-of-17 overall in the second half in addition to hitting six of the final nine free throws in the closing moments. Eastern Michigan connected at just 41 percent overall (24-of-58) but hit four of its five three-pointers in the second half (5-of-13, 39 percent) and was 69 percent (11-of-16) at the free throw line.

Carlos Hart and Addison Patterson both finished with 18 points as Mohammad Habhab added 13 points for the visitors in the loss.