The Wayne State College men’s basketball team played in its first and only exhibition game of the season on Friday against Wright State University in Fairborn, Ohio. The final score ended at 58-73 in favor of Wright State.

The contest was an exhibition for both teams, so the win for the Raiders and the loss for the Wildcats will not show on either team’s record.

“We played really well for most of the game,” said Vance Janssen, WSC junior guard. “In the end, we just struggled with their size a little bit on the glass.”

The Wildcats were out-rebounded by 12 in the contest as Wright State’s Justin Mitchell and Loudon Love each had 12 rebounds.

The two teams traded leads several times in the first 32 minutes of the game, but a late 16-5 run from Wright State in the final 8:47 of the contest let the Raiders pull away.

WSC finished the game shooting 22 for 58 from the field at 37.9 percent and 10-28 from the 3-point arc, after shooting 16-31 in the first half. The ’Cats shot only six free throws in the contest.

“We just went cold,” said Matt Thomas, WSC senior guard. “We were playing hard and making hustle plays, but sometimes you just don’t make shots.”

Jordan Cornelius led the Wildcats’ scoring charge with 12 points followed by Tony Bonner with 10 and Kendall Jacks with nine.

Wright State made 26 of 56 attempts, shooting 46.4 percent as well as seven of 18 from three-point range. The Raiders shot 14 of 18 from the free-throw line.

Justin Mitchell led Wright State with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Mark Hughes added 21 points while Loudon Love also had a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds.

Wright State dominated the inside, scoring 36 points in the lane to WSC’s 16 and also leading in second-chance points with a 16-6 advantage.

“It’s frustrating because the game was so close until the last stretch when we had so many good looks that just weren’t going in,” Thomas said. “But what is reassuring is that we did play really well against probably the best opponent we will see all year. That gives us a serious confidence boost.”

The Wildcats had a scrimmage against defending national champions, Northwest Missouri State, on Monday. WSC will open up its official season against Nebraska-Kearney this Friday in Kearney, and turn around and play Kearney again in Wayne on Sunday.