ATHENS, Ohio – The Cleveland State men's basketball team fell at Ohio, 71-53, on Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center.

CSU fell to 3-7 this year, while Ohio improved to 7-2.

STAT LEADERS

• Kasheem Thomas scored nine point with five rebounds and three steals.
• Demonte Flannigan finished with eight points and four rebounds, while Rob Edwards scored seven points and recorded three steals.
• Bobby Word tallied eight points and seven rebounds.
• Tim Hasbargen scored five points and grabbed two rebounds off the bench and Kenny Carpenter scored six points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Ohio jumped out to a 10-2 lead less than five minutes in and took a nine point lead (17-8) with 13 minutes left in the half.
• The Vikings answered with seven straight points over the next two-plus minutes to cut the deficit to 17-15.
• CSU still trailed by two (23-21) on a Flannigan jumper at the 5:45 mark, but the Bobcats closed the half with five straight points to take a 28-21 lead at halftime.
• A basket to start the half pushed the Ohio lead to 10 points (31-21), but the Vikings answered with five straight points to pull within five at 31-26.
• However, the Bobcats scored the next 10 points to open up a 41-26 lead with just under 15 minutes left.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• The Vikings used their third different starting lineup of the season with Kasheem Thomas, Rob Edwards and Bobby Word in the backcourt and Derek Sloan and Demonte Flannigan starting in the frontcourt.
• Today was CSU's first game in a week after final exams this past week.
• The Vikings forced 23 Ohio turnovers and turned them into 22 points.
• CSU recorded 13 steals with four players registering double digit steals.
• CSU outscored Ohio in the paint, 28-20.

UP NEXT

• CSU returns home to host Lake Erie on Monday (Dec. 19) at 7:00 pm in the Wolstein Center. It will be the final nonconference home game of the season for the Vikings.