The Raiders fell behind by 20 in the first half and trailed by 18 at halftime but rallied to pull out a 92-91 victory on Michael Imariagbe’s put-back with two-tenths of a second left Saturday night.
They’re 20-11 overall and finished 15-5 in the conference, notching their 16th 20-win season in program history and first since 2021-22.
NKU is 18-13 overall and 10-10 in the league.
“Northern Kentucky — that’s probably as good a half as they’ve had. They were physical, they were at us. The scout is to bully Wright State, and that’s what was going on. We were complaining to the officials, and I wasn’t in a good spot,” coach Clint Sargent said on his post-game radio show.
“Our staff had an awesome halftime, checking me. And we went to our players and said, ‘This is an awesome opportunity. If we’re going to do this next week (in the league tourney), we’re going to be in a spot where we have to respond.’”
The Raiders cut the deficit to 86-83 on a 3 by Kellen Pickett with 2:46 to go.
Kael Robinson scored on a drive to push the lead back to five, but Imariagbe hit a jumper at 1:44.
After an NKU turnover, Dom Pangonis made two free throws that cut it to 88-87 at 1:23.
NKU missed, and Pickett hit two free throws with 45 seconds left for an 89-88 lead.
Pangonis fouled, but LJ Wells missed a 1-and-1 with 24 seconds left.
Imariagbe made one of two free throws. But the Norse’s Donovan Oday drove to a three-point play for a 91-90 lead with eight seconds left.
TJ Burch then missed on a drive, but Imariagbe scored on a put-back for the game-winner.
That gave him 15 points and 16 rebounds.
Pickett had 19 points and seven rebounds, and Michael Cooper had 15 points.
Solomon Callaghan had 12 points while going 4 of 7 from 3. He had 24 points and went 6 of 7 on 3’s in the title-clinching victory at Purdue Fort Wayne on Wednesday.
“Michael Imaragibe — he wrote in the summer on one of our whiteboards, ’20 wins and Horizon League title.’ To point that out — and have him make that play — it’s just rare you get to celebrate something like that,” Sargent said.
The Raiders, who shot 55.6% and went 9 of 18 on 3’s, are the top seed and will play either Cleveland State or IU Indy in their first game at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Nutter Center.
CSU hosts the play-in game Monday and is 10-21 with seven straight losses. The Jaguars are 7-24 with six defeats in a row.
“We’re thankful. But we have to sober up quickly. We have more in us. I just told them we’re still searching for that complete 40-minute game. And I think these guys are ready for the postseason,” Sargent said.
Next game
Who: Cleveland State or IU Indy at Wright State
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
Streaming: TBD
Radio: 1410-AM, 101.5-FM
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