Wright St. beats Kent St. 63-54 behind Benzinger, Mitchell

Dec 9, 2017, 11:17 pm

DAYTON, Ohio -- Grant Benzinger scored 13 points and Justin Mitchell collected 11 rebounds and tied a career-high with five steals as Wright State defeated Kent State 63-54 on Saturday.

Parker Ernsthausen gave Wright State (6-4) the lead for good at 19-17 on a jumper with seven minutes left before halftime. Everett Winchester and Ernsthausen each added layups for a six-point lead. Jaylon Hall's jumper put the Raiders up 29-19 and they led 31-24 at the break.

Wright State -- winners of six of its last seven -- led by double figures most of the second half. Hall and Ernsthausen each had 11 points for Wright State, while Winchester scored 10.

Both squads struggled to shoot from the floor as the Raiders were 20 of 52 (39 percent) and Kent State 19 of 52 (37 percent). The Golden Flashes committed 24 turnovers to Wright State's 16.

Jalen Avery scored 17 points and Danny Pippen added 11 points with a career-high 11 boards for Kent State (5-5). Ryan Bernstein had a career-high four steals.