HUNTSVILLE, Texas -- The Wright State men’s basketball team fell behind early and couldn’t recover on Saturday evening at Sam Houston State, falling 84-65 to the Bearkats. Vaughn Duggins scored a team-high 16 points in the loss and Scott Grote added 11 points off the bench in the first game of a three game road swing for the Green and Gold.

Sam Houston State started the game with a three point basket and tallied the first nine points of the game, before WSU’s N’Gai Evans converted on a layup at the 16:58 mark. After a pair of SHSU free throws pushed the lead to 11-2, the Raiders put together a six point run – five coming from Duggins – to cut the lead to 11-8 with 14 minutes remaining in the first half.

WSU kept the game close, but couldn’t take the lead as the Bearkats had an answer for each basket. Grote tallied six straight points and pulled the Green and Gold to within two points at 20-18 with 7:58 remaining in the opening frame.

Sam Houston State closed the half with a 16-5 run and headed to the locker room with a 36-23 halftime lead. In the first half, SHSU shot 61-percent to only 30-percent for the Raiders. The Bearkats tallied 13 field goals to seven for the Raiders, with each team going 8-for-14 from the free throw stripe in the opening half.

After a three pointer from Corey Allmond to open the second half, Cory Cooperwood knocked down a jumper from the top of the key and Duggins added a layup to close the gap to 39-27.

With 16:39 remaining in the game, John David Gardner knocked down a three pointer to make it a ten-point ball game, the closest that WSU would get in the second half. Sam Houston State would respond with a 20-8 run and push their lead to a game-high 22 points with 11 minutes remaining.

WSU would cut the lead to 15, but SHSU shot 58-percent in the second half and 60-percent from the field in the game. The Raiders would convert on 12 of 26 shots in the second half and end the game with a shooting percentage of 38.8. The Bearkats held the edge in rebounds (34-26) and assists (24-15), while WSU committed only 14 turnovers to 16 for Sam Houston.

The Raiders fall to 0-4 overall on the season and will open up Horizon League play on Thursday, December 4th at Green Bay. Catch all of the play-by-play action with the Voice of the Raiders, Chris Collins, as the Raiders and Phoenix will take to the court for an 8:00 tip-off.