They’re 19-11 overall and 14-5 in the HL, earning the No. 1 seed in the league tourney next week. They’ll face the winner of the play-in game between the 10th and 11th seeds at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Nutter Center.
The title is their fifth since joining the conference in 1994-95, having won a share of the crown in 2020-21, 2018-19 and 2006-07.
“It was a long time coming. First off, praise the Lord. We’ve been through a lot from last year coming into this year. This team really bought into what we were preaching and what we were trying to be about,” second-year coach Clint Sargent said on his post-game radio show.
The Raiders got off to a sketchy start, falling behind by eight in the first half. But they finished the half with a 15-2 run to take a 31-26 lead at the break.
Solomon Callaghan scored the Raiders’ first eight points of the second half, making a pair of 3s, and a three-point play by Logan Woods gave the visitors a 48-38 lead with 12:36 to go.
PFW (16-14, 10-9) cut the deficit to five, but Dom Pangonis scored, and Callaghan hit another 3 for a 10-point bulge with 5:55 left.
Credit: JEREMY MILLER
Credit: JEREMY MILLER
Callaghan, who scored only 21 points in the previous four games, poured in 24 — his second-highest total of the year. He went 6 of 7 on 3s.
Woods had 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
“Thank you for all the fans who are riding through this with us — who can see all the flaws and all the shortcomings but just stayed with us in the fight of it. This is for you,” Sargent said.
“We’re thankful. We’re grateful. There’s more work to be done. I think this is going to be a big boost of confidence to be a team that can close and do it on the road.”
It was 67-57 with 2:56 to go before the Mastodons made a late charge.
They cut it to 67-63 with 59 seconds to go before Michael Cooper made an inside bucket with 53 ticks left.
The difference in the game was 3-point shooting. The Raiders went 9 of 19, PFW 5 of 22.
Hitting the books
Callaghan, a third-year sophomore, was named to the five-player Horizon League all-academic team Wednesday. Honorees must have at least a 3.2 GPA, and he was an honorable mention selection last year.
Next game
Who: Wright State at Northern Kentucky
When: 7 p.m. Saturday
Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 1410-AM, 101.5-FM
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