Wright State: 2026 Horizon Men's Basketball Champions

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (WDTN) – The Raiders are going dancing for the first time in four years, as Wright State men’s basketball punches its ticket to the NCAA Tournament with a 66-63 win over Detroit Mercy in Tuesday’s Horizon League Championship.

Wright State: 2021-22 Horizon Men's Basketball Champions

INDIANAPOLIS -- Wright State rallied from 16 points down to win the Horizon League Tournament championship game Tuesday night at Indiana Farmers Coliseum.

Trey Calvin’s jumper in the lane with 10.5 seconds left won the game for the Raiders, who are headed to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time.

Northern Kentucky’s Bryson Langdon had a chance to win it for NKU, but his jumper was off and the Raiders were able to celebrate a 72-71 triumph.

Calvin scored 21 points for Wright State while Tanner Holden had 19 and Grant Basile scored 18.

Marques Warrick led all scorers with 28 points for NKU, which led 57-41 with 11:41 to go.

“We never gave up,” Wright State forward Grant Basile said. “Our thing the last few games is to stay level-headed, and that’s what we did tonight. Trey made such a big shot. That was such a good play. We have some really good basketball players and we love each other, so sharing the ball like that just makes it so much easier.”

Here are three takeaways from the Raiders’ win:

1. The third-seeded Norse started red hot, hitting 12 of their first 15 shots.

It helped that they were able to get almost wherever they wanted to on the floor and finished with 22 points in the paint in the first half.

2. Tanner Holden and Grant Basile got going with about 12 minutes to go.

Holden started a 14-0 run that got Wright State back in the game by hitting a pair of free throws with 11:34 on the clock.

He had seven points in the spurt and set up Basile for a three-point play. Basile then capped it by finding Andrew Welage for a layup that made it 57-55 NKU with 8:35 to go.

3. Wright State won a conference tournament for the fourth time.

The Raiders also qualified for the Big Dance in 1993 (when they were in the Mid-Continent Conference), 2007 and 2018. They are still looking for their first NCAA Tournament win in Division I.

Star of the game

Trey Calvin not only made the winning basket but kept the Raiders in the game in the first half. He had 15 points in the firsts 20 minutes while the rests of the Raiders had 17.

Stat of the game

Both teams shot exactly 60.9 percent in one half.

For the Norse, it was the first 20 minutes when they were 14 for 23. For the Raiders, it was the second half when they made 14 of 23.

Wright State: 2017-18 Horizon Men's Basketball Champions

DETROIT -- Grant Benzinger grew up watching the NCAA Tournament, looking up old highlights and locking in for "One Shining Moment," with his dad, hoping to play in it someday.

His dream is about to come true.

Benzinger had 19 points and nine rebounds to help second-seeded Wright State beat eighth-seeded Cleveland State 74-57 on Tuesday night to win the Horizon League Tournament title and earn an NCAA Tournament bid.

"It's great to be a part of it now," he said.

The Raiders (25-9) will play in the NCAAs for the third time in school history and the first since 2007.

"I'm sure we'll probably have a pretty high seed and we'll play one of the top nine or 12 teams in the country," coach Scott Nagy said.

The Vikings (12-23) took their last lead with 7:36 left in the first half and seemed to wear down, playing their fourth game in five days.

Wright State took control late in the first half with a 13-2 run, taking an eight-point lead at halftime. The Raiders outscored Cleveland State 10-2 early in the second half to pull away.

"There's no excuse about being tired," Cleveland State guard Kenny Carpenter said.

Loudon Love made his first field goal with 14:42 left to put the Raiders up 44-33. The 6-foot-9, 275-pound center finished with nine points and 12 rebounds, setting the school's freshman scoring record and its single-season mark for rebounds. Wright State's Cole Gentry and Jaylon Hall scored 11 points apiece.

"Love displaced us all game," Cleveland State coach Dennis Felton said. "We did a very, very good job establishing position, but he was just very persistent and very physical."

Carpenter, playing in his hometown, had 18 points and Tyree Appleby scored 15 for the Raiders.

"To play in front of family, it's just special," Carpenter said. "It was a great experience and I'll never forget it."

BIG PICTURE

Cleveland State : Felton, who led Georgia and Western Kentucky to the NCAA Tournament, guided the low-seeded team to one-point wins over Northern Kentucky and fourth-seeded Oakland near its suburban Detroit campus to advance to the finals. That gave the Vikings their first four-game winning streak in four-plus years.

"Even before this run to the championship, I know we accomplished a lot this year because we kept improving," said Felton, who was in his first year at the school.

Wright State: Nagy led South Dakota State to the NCAA Tournament in 2016 for third time in five years. The Horizon League Coach of the Year can use that experience to help his players, who were young kids the last time the Raiders were in the NCAA Tournament 11 years ago.

"Coach knows what it takes to get there and what to do when you're there, so we'll just follow his lead," Benzinger said.

IN SUPPORT

Wright State's postgame celebration included giving Ryan Custer a championship cap. Custer had spinal cord surgery after an accident 11 months ago, putting the 6-foot-7 former Raiders forward in a wheelchair.

"To have him here this weekend was wonderful," Nagy said. "I know it was good for him and his family."

UP NEXT

Cleveland State: Felton started two freshmen -- Appleby and Stefan Kenic -- and will have to build around them next season after a lot of departures.


"We'll be starting all over two years in a row because next year, over half of our team will be new players," Felton said. "So the few returning players that we have, they've got their work cut out for them in terms of leading the next group."

Wright State: After an enjoyable trip back to campus in Dayton, Ohio, the Raiders will find out Sunday who they're playing and where they're headed in the NCAA Tournament.

"They'll walk around for four or five days and everybody is going to pat them on their back and tell them how great they are," Nagy said. "So it'll be my job to bring them back down to earth."