The Raiders built a 62-53 lead with 9:33 to go and looked to be pulling away. But they scored just one point (a Tanner Holden free throw) over the next six minutes and 13 seconds, missing 11 straight shots.
YSU scored 20 points in that span to build a cushy 10-point lead on the way to an 81-71 victory.
The Raiders are 9-9 overall and 4-3 in the Horizon League after having their three-game winning streak zapped. They’re still in the thick of the league race, though, since everyone in the conference has at least two losses.
“I loved the first half. We weren’t good offensively, but we were in the game because we played good defense. In the second half, we just weren’t good defensively. They shot 51%,” coach Scott Nagy said on his postgame radio show.
“I just think, watching our guys — I’m not interested in excuses, but I know this: We’ve been on the road 10 of the last 16 days, and it looked like it in the second half. It looked like we had no legs left. That affects offense. That affects everything.”
The Raiders were leading the nation in field-goal shooting at 54.1% but finished 27 of 67 for 40.3%.
In their four previous games, they shot 55.6%, 60.0, 66.1 and 60.7.
They were averaging 85.8 points, 12th in the country.
Alex Huibregtse scored a season-high 20 points, Trey Calvin 16 and A.J. Braun 12.
Holden, who didn’t score in the opening 18 minutes, finished with 11 points and a season-best 12 rebounds.
Brandon Noel, averaging 14.0 points, went scoreless in the first half and ended up with four.
Brett Thompson and Ziggy Reid scored 20 each for YSU (13-5, 5-2).
“You have to give them credit for playing good defense. They were physical. We look forward to getting them back at our place,” Nagy said.
Calvin passed 2007 league player of the year DaShaun Wood for second on the program’s all-time scoring list in the first half. The fifth-year guard has 1,860 points, while Wood had 1,849 from 2003-07.
Holden passed Loudon Love for fourth on the career list with 1,795 points. Love, a two-time league player of the year, had 1,792 from 2017-21.
THURSDAY’S GAME
Green Bay at Wright State, 7 p.m., ESPN+, 101.5, 1410
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