Raiders fall to 11th ranked Bearcats

The Wright State men's basketball team led by eight early in the second half, but could not pull off the upset as #11 Cincinnati used a 23-4 run in winning 68-58 Saturday afternoon at Fifth Third Arena.

WSU did not have a field goal until Cole Darling hit a three to tie the game at 8-8 with 13:01 remaining in the first half and its second field goal, a Reggie Arceneaux three, put the Raiders up 12-11 at the 11:08 mark.  Another triple, this time by JT Yoho, gave Wright State a 15-11 edge and the Raiders took a 28-22 halftime lead by closing out the period with an 8-2 run over the final five minutes.

Both teams struggled offensively in the opening 20 minutes as WSU hit just eight of 31 shots for 26 percent while UC was nine of 37 for 24 percent.

A Tavares Sledge layup to start the second half extended the Raider advantage to eight before Cincinnati answered with a 10-0 run to regain the lead.  Yoho again put WSU in front with a three, but the Bearcats followed with another big run, this time 13-1, to push the margin into double figures.

Jerran Young hit a three from the left corner to make it 45-38 with 11:51 remaining and Wright State cut the deficit to seven on two other occasions, but could get no closer.

Cincinnati shot 38 percent overall compared to 32 percent for WSU and the Bearcats finished with a 49-38 rebounding advantage as they led 25-9 in second-chance points and 36-18 in points in the paint.

Young posted a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds to pace the Raiders while Yoho added 13.  Overall, Wright State led 32-16 in bench scoring.

JaQuon Parker led Cincinnati (12-0) with 21 points while Sean Kilpatrick had 12 and Titus Rubles 11.

Wright State (8-4) returns to action on Sunday, December 30, as the Raiders host Mount St. Joseph at 2:00.