CLEVELAND, Ohio – Bobby Word scored 18 points and Cleveland State hit 10 three-pointers, but Wright State used a late run to claim a 72-63 win over the Vikings on Monday night at the Nutter Center.
The Vikings fell to 8-21 overall and 5-12 in the Horizon League, while the Raiders moved to 21-8 overall and maintained its hold on first place in the League at 13-3.
Word hit five threes for his 18 points, while Kenny Carpenter added 14 points, four rebounds and three assists. Jamarcus Hairston made 4-of-5 from the field – including all three of his threes – for 11 points and Anthony Wright tallied seven points and eight rebounds.
The Vikings were playing without starting point guard and second leading scorer and top assist man Tyree Appleby who missed the game with an injury.
Kasheem Thomas filled in for Appleby in the starting lineup and finished with four points, four rebounds and five assists.
The Vikings finished 10-of-23 from three-point, marking the 12th game this year and the fourth straight that CSU hit at least 10 threes.
Neither team led by more than six points in the first half, which featured five ties and eight lead changes. The Vikings took the largest lead of the half (30-24) at the 4:36 mark on a runner by Carpenter.
CSU would lead at the half, 36-33, as the Vikings made five threes in the opening half and shot .462 (12-26) from the field overall.
Kenic opened the second half with a three-pointer to push the lead back to six points, but the Raiders answered with five straight points to pull within one point (39-38). Kenic responded with a jumper to start a 7-0 CSU run that gave the Vikings an eight point lead (46-38) with 16:20 to play.
The Raiders came right back with eight consecutive points to knot the game at 46-46 at the 14:08 mark. The teams continued to trade baskets until four straight free throws and back-to-back layups from the Raiders helped them open up a 68-59 lead with just over four minutes to play.
CSU closes the regular season on Saturday (Feb. 24) with a 7:00 pm game at Youngstown State.
