Robert Morris men lose on road to Wright State

For a while, Robert Morris had its mojo going. Then, Wright State responded.

In a big way.

Grant Basile scored 20 points to go with eight rebounds, and Wright State rallied from an eight-point, second-half deficit to defeat Robert Morris, 71-61, on Saturday night at Nutter Center in Fairborn, Ohio.

The Colonials (7-23, 5-16) enter the Horizon League Tournament as the No. 10 seed and will play a first-round game Tuesday at No. 7 Youngstown State (18-13, 12-9).

“Youngstown State has been playing some really good basketball, and we have to be ready to go,” Robert Morris coach Andy Toole said. “If there’s any time to flip the switch that everyone thinks can be flipped, now would be the time.”

The teams split their two-game season series, each winning on the other’s home court.

Robert Morris led Wright State (18-13, 15-7), 37-29, before the Raiders seized the lead on Trey Calvin’s basket for a 44-43 advantage with 13 minutes, 21 seconds left.

Robert Morris stayed close to Wright State, trailing 47-45, but stalled as The Raiders ran off 11 consecutive points to take command 58-45.

“We had about 24 minutes of good basketball, and then some chinks in the armor exposed themselves,” Toole said. “The effort and the fight was where it needed to be, but we just couldn’t sustain effort over 40 minutes.”

Calvin added 18 points, and Tanner Holden contributed 16 points and eight rebounds for Wright State.

Kahliel Spear led Robert Morris with 14 points. Jaron Williams and Brandon Stone added 13 points apiece.