Raiders striking gold on road of late

After going 0-8 away from the Nutter Center to start the season, the Wright State men’s basketball team has been golden on the road of late.

The Raiders debuted new gold jerseys Jan. 10 at Valparaiso and recorded their first road win of the season. So they wore them again for Sunday’s game at Cleveland State, and they won again, holding on for a 49-46 triumph.

“This might have to be a reoccurring theme,” senior guard Matt Vest said after helping lead WSU to the victory with nine points, five rebounds and three assists.

“The guys like them, so I guess we’ll keep wearing them,” Wright State coach Billy Donlon said.

In addition to the gold jerseys, solid defense has been a common factor in the back-to-back road wins as the Raiders held Cleveland State to 46 points on 32.7-percent shooting after limiting Valpo to 45 points and 31.9 percent.

“A win on the road is probably as good as it gets,” Vest said. “Going out there with your brothers and being a team against a whole building of people is a pretty unbelievable feeling.”

Yoho returns: Wright State was at full strength Sunday as sophomore forward J.T. Yoho returned to the court after missing the last three games with an ankle injury.

Yoho scored two points and grabbed three rebounds in six minutes.

“I thought he played well,” Donlon said. “I thought he attacked and was aggressive. I just thought on his last drive, you could tell he was fighting it and I didn’t want to make it worse. I thought he hobbled into the move, and there’s still a lot of season left and I don’t want to risk anything. Normally when you come back too early and injure it again, it’s a lot worse.”

Yates update: Cleveland State coach Gary Waters said Dunbar graduate Andre Yates is progressing well as he takes this season off following his transfer from Creighton.

“The thing he has to do is understand it’s a process and you’ve got to go through it,” Waters said. “He did really well first semester academically, and now he’ll be ready to play for us next year.”

Yates is allowed to practice with the team, and he had been until Wednesday when he was one of three players who suffered concussions in practice, along with starting center Anton Grady and top reserve Sebastian Douglas.

“I’m going to start making these guys wear helmets,” Waters joked.

Raiders raffle: Tuesday's home game against Wisconsin-Milwaukee will be the last chance for fans to purchase raffle tickets for an unprecedented prize being offered by the Wright State Alumni Association.

Tickets are $5, or five for $20, for a chance to win a special game-day experience that will include a pregame tour of the video control room, a meet and greet with play-by-play announcer Chris Collins and a chance to be on the court for pregame warm-ups, introductions and the national anthem. During the game, the winner will get to sit on the floor immediately behind the WSU bench. There also will be a radio interview with Collins at halftime. And after the game they will attend the press conferences in the media room and get a basketball signed by all of the players and coaches.

The winner will have three February games to chose from, and all proceeds will go to Coaches vs. Cancer and the Wright State Food Pantry.

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