VIDEO | Highlights

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Rob Edwards scored 22 points and Bobby Word had 18, but Cleveland State dropped its Horizon League opener, 76-75, on Thursday night in the Wolstein Center.

The Vikings fell to 4-9 overall, while Green Bay improved to 7-6.

STAT LEADERS

• Edwards recorded his eighth career 20-point game, hitting 7-of-12 from the field and 6-of-8 from the free throw line. He added five rebounds and two steals.
• Word hit 4-of-5 from three-point for his 18 points, while adding six rebounds.
• Demonte Flannigan just missed a double-double, totaling nine points and 13 rebounds.
• Kasheem Thomas posted eight points and three assists, while Kenny Carpenter also scored eight points.
• Anthony Wright recorded five points, four rebounds and three assists.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Edwards and Word both hit three-pointers to help the Vikings jump out to a 10-0 lead as Green Bay missed its first nine shots from the floor.
• CSU extended the lead to 13 points (16-3) on a three-point play from Flannigan, but the Phoenix began to chip away at the lead.
• Green Bay pulled within six points (21-15) with 8:47 left in the first half, but Word answered with his fourth three-pointer of the half to push the lead back to nine (24-15).
• However, Green Bay used a 13-5 run over the next seven minutes to slice the CSU lead to one point (29-28) before a Nelson Maxwell driving layup with 30 seconds left gave the Vikings a 33-30 lead at halftime.
• The second half featured nine ties and 10 lead changes after the Vikings led for the entire first half.
• Green Bay took its first lead of the game just four minutes into the second half and led by as many as four points on several occasions in the second half.
• Edwards broke a 65-65 tie with two free throws with 57 seconds to play, but after a CSU stop on defense, the Vikings turned the ball over on the inbounds and Khalil Small drove to the basket for a layup to tie the game at 67-67 with 32 seconds left.
• Edwards missed a jumper in the paint with eight seconds left and Tevin Findlay drew a foul on Derek Sloan on a drive to the basket with 2.7 seconds left. However, he missed both free throws as the game went into overtime.
• The Phoenix led by five (74-69) with 48 seconds left, but three-pointers from Kenny Carpenter and Edwards offset a free throw by Trevor Anderson as CSU tied the game at 75-75 with 16 seconds to play.
• Anderson was fouled on the ensuing possession and split a pair of free throws with five seconds left which proved to be the game-winner.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Green Bay out-rebounded CSU, 53-46, and grabbed 22 offensive rebounds which led to 10 second chance points.
• CSU was called for a season-high 32 fouls, while Green Bay had a CSU opponent high 27 fouls tonight.
• Both teams struggled at the free throw line with CSU hitting 16-of-26 and the Phoenix making 23-of-41.
• The Vikings made 20 turnovers which Green Bay turned into 23 points. CSU had 17 points off 16 Phoenix turnovers.
• The Phoenix received 34 points from their bench, including 19 from Charles Cooper.
• The Vikings made 9-of-21 (.429) from three-point.

UP NEXT

• CSU concludes the opening weekend of Horizon League play on Saturday (Dec. 31) with a 3:30 pm game against Milwaukee at the Wolstein Center.
• It will be a doubleheader with the CSU women hosting Youngstown State at 1:00 pm.