PORTSMOUTH, Ohio – The Lindsey Wilson men's basketball team rode a strong second half to a 80-70 victory over Shawnee State (Ohio) on Saturday at the Frank & Janis Waller Gymnasium.

The Blue Raiders (15-7, 3-4 Mid-South Conference) shot 60.9 percent in the second half and nailed 4-of-6 shots from beyond the arc en route to outscoring the host Bears (7-12, 0-7 MSC) 43-31 over the final 20 minutes of play.

Charles Sutton scored 17 points in the game, eclipsing the 1,000 point mark for his career in the first half. He becomes the 12th player in men's program history to score 1,000 points in a career, and the first Blue Raider to do so since Kalen Kimberland during the 2011-12 season.

Dmitry Utolin led the team with 18 points, while Bryan Wallace scored 17, all coming in the second half. Hannes Erhardt finished with a perfect shooting day, making 3-of-3 shots from the field and 6-of-6 from the free throw line for 12 points.

Lindsey Wilson jumped all over Shawnee State to begin the contest, grabbing a quick 8-0 lead and forcing a Bear timeout. The timeout did the trick as Shawnee State outscored the Blue Raiders 20-11 over the next five minutes to take their first lead of the game at 20-19 with 11:30 to play.

Trailing 25-22, the Blue Raiders used a 6-0 run to take a 28-25 lead, only for Shawnee State to respond with a 7-2 run to retake the lead 32-30 with 5:38 to go in the half. Lindsey took the lead back one more time following a three pointer by Marquis Johns that made it 35-34, but once again the Bears had an answer with a 5-2 run over the final three minutes of the half to take a 39-37 lead into the lockerroom.

Both teams shot well in the opening half, LWC hitting an even 50.0 percent while Shawnee State shot 53.3 percent of their shots. The two teams each made a trio of three pointers while combining to go 10-for-11 from the charity stripe. Lindsey Wilson committed one more turnover (7-6) than the Bears and each team had 10 rebounds.

Sutton had 15 points in the opening half while Utolin had nine. Jayllen Carter led Shawnee State with 16 points at the break.

Lindsey Wilson started the second half on an 8-2 run, but Shawnee State clawed back into things, eventually retaking the lead after a trio of free throws made it 53-51 with 12:05 to play.

The evenly matched contest would be decided in the final 10 minutes as the game was tied 58-58.

Lindsey Wilson led 65-60, but the Bears came back with a four-point run to make it 65-64 with 5:52 to go. The Blue Raiders had an answer though and scored eight straight capped off by a pair of free throws from Erhardt that made it a 10-point game at the 2:24 mark, the largest lead of the game.

From there Lindsey Wilson maintained at least an eight-point lead the remainder of the game as the Blue Raiders came away with the 80-70 win.

Lindsey Wilson shot 54.9 percent from the field and made seven three pointers, while hitting 17-of-20 shots from the free throw line. Shawnee State hit 48.3 percent of their shots and five three pointers.

Carter did not score in the second half for the Bears while Frederik Moore had 13 points and Tamal Watkins had 12.

The Blue Raiders step out of conference play for their next game, a Jan. 24 matchup with Fisk (Tenn.) at Biggers Sports Center.