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VALPARAISO, Ind. (3/9/13) – The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team's defense of its 2012 Horizon League Tournament Championship came to an end on a rushed last-second shot as No. 3-seeded Wright State downed Detroit, 56-54, Saturday night in a semifinal game at the ARC.

Junior Jason Calliste had a game-high 17 points and a team-high five assists and junior Evan Bruinsma tallied 15 points and three rebounds. Seniors Doug Anderson and Nick Minnerath had eight points apiece, while Ray McCallum totaled five points, seven rebounds, and five steals.

The game featured 14 ties and nine lead changes, but a three from Calliste with 1:13 left tied the score at 54-all. Detroit then was able to force a miss and get the ball back, but it was not able to capitalize on its next possession and the Raiders took over with 14.8 seconds on the clock. UDM played great defense, but WSU's Miles Dixon was able to just get off a shot as time expired, sending the second-seeded Raiders to the championship game.

UDM was down by five, 44-39, with 8:34 left when the Titans started to make a late charge, eventually tying it at 45-45 with 6:55 to go.  Detroit would then tie it up four more times down the stretch – the latest at 54-54 - but could never get the score to swing in its favor.

It was nip and tuck right from the very start as Wright State controlled the boards, 15-7, but the Titan defense forced 10 turnovers and had a 14-3 advantage in points off turnovers, a big reason why the game was tied at 29-all at the half.

UDM scored the game's first four points, but just to foreshadow the rest of the contest, Wright State answered with five straight. Later on, Calliste – who had 12 in the first half – hit a three to give Detroit a 13-10 lead, but the Raiders went on an 8-0 run to open their largest lead of the game, 18-13, midway through the first half.

A Minnerath layup and another 3-pointer from Calliste knotted it at 18-18 with eight minutes left, but once again, the teams jumped back and forth with the Titans regaining a three-point lead, 29-26, with two minutes to go. WSU was able to hold UDM there to tie it up at the half.

Detroit shot 42.9% (12-of-28) in the opening stanza and was 8-of-10 from the line, but the Raiders hit on 56.5% (13-of-23), including 4-of-6 from behind the arc.

Detroit had a three-point lead again in the second half as Anderson got to the rim to make it 34-31 at the 16:36 mark, but six-straight from Wright State and the Raiders then had the three-point lead.  The game would then be tied at 37-37, but a 7-2 surge by Wright State had the Titans down by five, 44-39, with 8:34 remaining.

Detroit ended the day shooting 42.2% on 19-of-45 from the field - the lowest field goals attempted by the red, white and blue on the season - while the Raiders were 22-of-42 (52.4%). UDM forced 17 turnovers and had a 23-7 tally in points off turnovers and a 12-0 advantage on second-chance points, but the Titans were outrebounded 29-21.

Detroit will now play the waiting game as the Titans wait for the college basketball postseason tournaments to announce their selections, which will come after the NCAA Tournament announces its field next Sunday.