YSU falls 67-54 at Wright State

STAFF/WIRE REPORT

DAYTON — Troy Tabler scored 24 points to lead Wright State to a 67-54 win over Youngstown State on Saturday night.

Tabler was a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line for the Raiders (5-2, 2-0 Horizon League), while Todd Brown chipped in with 15 points and eight rebounds.

A 3-pointer from Youngstown State’s Vance Cooksey cut the Raiders’ lead to two points midway through the second half, but two unanswered 3-pointers from Tabler and Ronnie Thomas pushed Wright State’s lead to 48-40 with 9:22 remaining.

The Penguins (3-5, 0-2) would get no closer than within five points, as Wright State ended the game with an 8-2 run.

Sirlester Martin led Youngstown State with 16 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. The Penguins have lost three straight.

The Raiders shot only 36.5 percent from the field (19-for-52), but scored 24 points off Youngstown State’s 23 turnovers.

The Penguins hit their first three shots of the game and raced out to an early 6-2 lead and eventually led by nine points at the 13:32 mark when Martin hit a jump shot to give Youngstown State a 14-5 lead.

WSU responded with a run of their own, scoring the next 11 points, and the Raiders took their first lead of the contest when Cory Cooperwood knocked down a jumper to give the Raiders a 15-14 lead.

The two teams would exchange the lead over the next four minutes, before the Green and Gold closed the half on an 8-3 run to take a 28-23 advantage into the half. Closing the half, Todd Brown and Troy Tabler connected from three point range, while Tabler added a pair of free throws with second left to account for the margin at the break.