VIDEO | Highlights

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cleveland State had four players in double figures, including Bobby Word who reached 1,000 career points as the Vikings won their first Horizon League game of the season with an 80-79 victory over Green Bay on Thursday night.

CSU moves to 4-11 overall and 1-1 in the League, while the Phoenix fell to 7-10 overall (2-2 HL).

STAT LEADERS

• Kenny Carpenter led four Vikings in double figures with 20 points and added six rebounds. He hit 10-of-14 from the floor for his second 20-point game of the year.
• Word posted his first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while also reaching 1,000 career points.
• Tyree Appleby finished with 14 points and six assists, while Stefan Kenic had 11 points and five rebounds as he came off the bench for the first time this season.
• Anthony Wright added six points and six rebounds.
• Evan Clayborne – who missed the last seven games with a knee injury – returned and finished with four points, a rebounds and three blocks in 10 minutes.
• Kasheem Thomas added nine points, three assists and three steals.

COACH SPEAK

• "It was great to win a game like this and really gratifying to win it by showing grit and determination and excellent execution on the offensive end to get the looks we wanted. The best part was the final defensive stand. That's the kind of intensity on the defensive end that we have been talking about and need to continue to get more of that."
   – Head Coach Dennis Felton

FIRST HALF RECAP

• Green Bay scored the first six points of the game and built its largest lead of the first half (11-2) six minutes in.
• Clayborne had a two-handed dunk for CSU's first field goal of the game.
• His dunk helped the Vikings begin to slowly chip away at the Green Bay lead and Carpenter's jumper with six minutes left in the half tied the game (23-23) for the first time.
• An 11-6 spurt by the Phoenix opened up a five point lead (34-29) with 2:34 to play and Green Bay held that five point advantage (41-36) at halftime.

SECOND HALF RECAP

• A three-pointer from the Phoenix opened the second half scoring and extended the lead to eight points (44-36), but CSU answered with an 11-3 run to knot the contest at 47-47 on Kenic's three-point play.
• Green Bay opened up an eight point lead (60-52) with 10:36 to play, but CSU came right back, using a 12-2 run to take its first lead of the night on a Clayborne dunk with 7:47 left.
• Neither team led by more than two points until Carpenter's layup with 51 seconds left gave the Vikings an 80-76 lead.
• However, Khalil Small – who finished with 30 points – answered with a three-point play on the other end.
• The Vikings did not score on their final possession, giving the Phoenix one last chance, but Carpenter blocked a shot by Kameron Hankerson and time expired.

KEY STATS

• CSU used its fifth starting lineup of the season with Jamarcus Hairston making his first career start as a Vikings.
• Tonight was CSU's sixth one possession game and second straight.
• The CSU bench outscored Green Bay's, 24-13.
• The Vikings committed a season-low six turnovers and did not turn the ball over in the second half. CSU scored 21 points off 16 Phoenix turnovers.
• Green Bay out-rebounded the Vikings, 41-37, while both teams had 12 offensive boards.

UP NEXT

• The Vikings close out a three-game homestand to open Horizon League play with a 3:30 pm game against Milwaukee on Saturday (Jan. 6) in the Wolstein Center.
• It will be a doubleheader with the CSU women's squad hosting UIC at 1:00 pm.