Men's basketball: Wright State survives a pair of Miami rallies

When Wright State was formed in the 1960s, it started as a branch campus and a joint venture between Miami and Ohio State. After Sunday’s game, the Raiders are a step closer to proving that newer might be better.

Wright State improved to 4-1 under head coach Billy Donlon against Miami in the Raiders’ 68-59 win Sunday over the RedHawks.

Photos: Men's Basketball: WSU vs Miami

While Miami celebrated its 200^th anniversary five years ago and is the former parent institution of Wright State, that did not stop Donlon from proclaiming his feelings for the rivalry between the two public universities in the Miami Valley.

“This game is a significant game to all of us, to me especially, just because Wright State’s university is in every way possible on par with Miami,” Donlon said. “But I don’t think from a national perspective, we get the necessary due at times.”

“Being here, I kind of have a chip on my shoulders,” Donlon added.

Wright State twice held second-half leads of 15 or more, but Miami found a way to make it a two-possession contest with a pair of runs. Despite shaky free throw shooting late, the Raiders held off the RedHawks by making a few key stops who were within four in the final two minutes.

“We came back, we put ourselves in a hole obviously in the first half but I thought Billy’s group did a good job,” Miami coach John Cooper said.

With seniors Reggie Arceneaux and Chrishawn Hopkins only combining for two points in the contest, Donlon opted to play freshman Justin Mitchell and sophomore Mark Howell in the closing minutes.

“When you can win a basketball game and not have some of your older, veteran guys play the way they are capable of playing, that is a good sign for your team,” Donlon said.

Wright State junior forward JT Yoho had his first double-double since his freshman season leading the Raiders with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Raiders Michael Karena, Grant Benzinger and Joe Thomasson were all in double figures.

“JT was good, I don’t think he was great,” Donlon said. “He had 18 and 11 and I think he can be a lot better. That is the sign of a good player when he can get 18 and 11 and his coach doesn’t think he played his A-game.”

It was Yoho’s second win over the RedHawks.

“It is always good to beat Miami,” Yoho said. “We went there last year and there were only 200 people there. It was a real sloppy game but it is always good to beat a rival especially on our home court in front of our home fans.”

Wright State led at halftime 30-16. Miami had 16 for its worst offensive performance in a half for the season. Miami shot 27.3 percent in the first half compared to 59.1 percent for Wright State.

“It was real important to get that quick jump on them, got ahead early and made the rest of game easier even though they came back in the end,” Benzinger said.

After Miami took a 5-2 lead, the Raiders went on a 15-0 run powered by 11 Benzinger points. Benzinger went 4-for-4 making three 3-pointers. The Raiders held Miami scoreless for over seven minutes in the first half. Miami finally broke the run when Eric Washington made a layup with 9:02 left in the first to make it a 17-7 game.

“We played a great first half as the coaches are preaching defense and we came out and held them to 16 points,” Yoho said.

Miami responded in the second half by playing a smaller lineup, which posed a challenge to the Raiders.

“It was different but for us to keep focus and playing hard was a good thing for us,” Yoho said.

After a Miami offensive foul, Cooper was given a technical foul for protesting to the referees. His squad responded moments later to cut Wright State’s lead to six with an 8-0 run with 11:34 left. The Raiders responded to the RedHawks run with a 6-0 run.

Wright State stretched its lead to as large as 15 with four minutes left but Miami went on a 10-0 run. Thomasson broke the run with a layup from end to end.

Wright State will have an opportunity in less than two weeks to beat its other former parent institution when WSU travels to Ohio State on Dec. 27. Before then, the Raiders travel to Western Carolina Thursday before returning home to host George Mason Dec. 23.