VALPARAISO, Ind. – Trey Lewis and Charlie Lee combined to go 8-of-12 from three-point and Cleveland State used a strong run to open the second half to claim a 70-53 win over Detroit in the second round of the Horizon League Championship on Friday night in the Athletics & Recreation Center.
Fourth-seeded CSU improved to 18-13 and advances to the semifinals where the Vikings will play at top-seeded Valparaiso on Saturday at 9:30 p.m. EST. on ESPNU. It marks the sixth time in the last eight years that CSU will play in the league semifinals.
Detroit concludes its season at 15-18.
Second-seeded Green Bay will play sixth-seeded UIC in Saturday's first semifinal. The Flames advanced with a 72-69 win over third-seeded Oakland in tonight's first game.
"Our guys came out mentally ready to play and I thought we were outstanding on defense," head coach Gary Waters said. "I thought we executed on the offensive end and when our defense kicks in like it did tonight, we usually have good results."
Lee finished with a game-high 17 points, hitting 4-of-5 from three-point, while Lewis scored 16 to go along with five assists. Marlin Mason just missed his third career double-double, tallying nine points and 13 rebounds, while Andre Yates scored 12 points off the bench.
"I thought Marlin really came out and provided us a spark," Waters said. "He had 13 rebounds and worked extremely hard."
Chris Jenkins led the Titans with 14 points as the Vikings held second team all-league pick Juwan Howard, Jr., to just three points (1-7 FG) as he hit a three with 0.1 seconds left.
The Vikings shot 9-of-15 (.600) from three-point and were 25-of-49 (.510) overall from the field.
The Vikings opened up a 31-21 halftime lead as CSU forced 14 first half turnovers by the Titans and limited Detroit to just 35-percent (8-23) from the field.
Paris Bass scored the first two baskets of the second half, but a Lewis three-pointer and Anton Grady feed to a cutting Kaza Keane for a layup gave the Vikings their largest lead of the night, 36-24, three minutes into the second half.
The two baskets were the start of a 22-8 run that allowed the Vikings to open up a 53-29 lead with just under 12 minutes to play. The lead would grow to as many as 25 points and the Titans would not get closer than 15 the rest of the night.
The Vikings held a 35-29 advantage on the boards.
"Our guys really wanted to play Valpo again," Waters said. "They remember the last outing and both games this year have been close. We have to come out and defend them because they are a very good offensive team. I think we will be mentally ready to go."
