DETROIT, Mich. – Bryn Forbes tied his career-high with 27 points and hit a three-pointer in a school-record 24th straight game and Sebastian Douglas returned after missing five games to tally 14 points and four assists as Cleveland State picked up an 86-78 win at Detroit on Friday night in Calihan Hall.
The Vikings improved to 15-9 overall and won for the fourth straight time and the seventh time in the last nine games. CSU also moved into second place in the Horizon League at 6-3. Detroit fell to 10-14 overall and 3-6 in league play.
Tonight's contest was the ninth time CSU topped the 80 point mark this year, the most since the 1999-00 team scored 80 plus points 12 times.
Forbes hit 7-of-10 from the field, including 4-of-6 from three-point. He added seven rebounds and three assists. Charlie Lee recorded 13 points and seven assists – dishing out 16 assists in the two wins over Detroit this year. Jon Harris chipped in 12 points off the bench, while Anton Grady had nine points and nine rebounds.
CSU shot .596 (28-47) from the field, including 9-of-14 (.643) from three-point.
The Vikings used buckets by Lee and Grady to take a quick 4-0 lead, but Detroit answered with nine straight points to open up a 9-4 advantage six-and-a-half minutes in.
That's when Douglas and Jon Harris checked in, sparking the Vikings to a 16-2 run over the next five minutes as CSU opened up a nine-point lead (20-11) at the 9:36 mark. The Viking lead would reach as many as 11 points several times after, including a 39-28 lead at halftime.
Douglas, who was playing for the first time since Jan. 13 after missing five games with a concussion, scored nine first half points and added three assists and a steal.
The Vikings shot .625 (15-24) from the field in the opening half.
CSU opened the second half on a 9-2 run, capped by a Forbes three-pointer that gave the Vikings a 48-30 lead just 2:30 into the second half. The lead reached as many as 19 points (58-39; 13:21) on a Harris three-pointer from the corner, but Detroit would use a 13-4 run over the next four-plus minutes to pull back within 10 point (62-52).
But Harris answered on the other end with a three-point play and Forbes followed with a three-pointer to extend the lead back to 16 points and Detroit would not threaten the rest of the night.
The Titans were led by Evan Bruinsma who scored 21 points, while Juwan Howard, Jr., had 20 points.
The Vikings return to action on Thursday (Feb. 6) when CSU travels to Oakland for a 7:00 p.m. contest. It is a Horizon League Network Regional TV game and will be broadcast live on SportsTime Ohio.