PHOTOS: Senior Day
VIDEO: Highlights
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cleveland State used a balanced scoring attack with four players in double figures and won for the eighth time in the last nine games with a 74-50 victory over Milwaukee on Saturday afternoon in the Wolstein Center.
The Vikings improved to 19-10 overall and remained in second place in the Horizon League at 10-4, one-and-a-half games ahead of third place Valparaiso (8-5) who hosts Youngstown State at 4:00 p.m. today.
The No. 2 seed will receive an automatic bye to the semifinals of the league tournament.
It is the sixth time in the last seven seasons that CSU has won at least 10 league games and the 11th time in school history the Vikings have reached double figures in league victories.
Milwaukee slipped to 16-12 overall and 6-8 in the league.
CSU's four seniors – Jon Harris, Devon Long, Ludovic Ndaye and Raphael Veira – as well as senior student manager A.J. Montamaro, were honored in a pre-game ceremony as CSU was playing its final regular season Saturday home game.
Charlie Lee scored 14 points with four steals and three assists, while Bryn Forbes returned to action after missing last Saturday's game (ill) to score 12 points with three assists. He hit one three-pointer and is now within one three of tying the CSU single-season record for three's made.
Anton Grady added 12 points and five rebounds, while Harris notched 10 points off the bench. It was his 15th double-digit scoring game off the bench this year.
Kyle Kelm led UWM with 13 points.
The Vikings raced out to a 31-15 halftime lead thanks to a defense that held the Panthers to 5-of-26 (.192) shooting from the field, including a 1-for-13 (.077) effort from three-point.
CSU started slow on the offensive end, holding a 9-7 lead nine minutes in. However, Lee hit a pair of free throws – his 26th and 27th consecutive made free throws – to start an 17-4 run that allowed the Vikings to open up 26-11 lead on a Forbes runner with just under three minutes left in the half.
The Panthers cut the CSU lead to 12 points (33-21) early in the second half, but following a CSU timeout, the Vikings went on a 13-5 run – capped by a three-pointer from Harris – to open up a 20 point lead (46-26) with 14:31 left.
Milwaukee would get no closer than 17 the rest of the afternoon.
The Vikings shot .464 (26-56) from the field, aided by a 15-for-28 (.536) performance in the second half, and also tied a season-high with 10 steals.
CSU returns to action on Tuesday (Feb. 25) when the Vikings host Youngstown State at 7:00 p.m. in the regular season home finale.
