Cleveland, OH-The Cleveland State Men's Basketball team earned a critical home win to start the second half of the Horizon League schedule, defeating Purdue Fort Wayne 79-74 to move to 8-3 in the Horizon League, and 13-9 overall.
The Vikings shot 58-percent from the floor and outrebounded the Mastodons 31-29. Deante Johnson led the way with 12 boards, which tied a season high.
Cleveland State also finished a stout 9-10 from the free throw line. Purdue Fort Wayne committed 11 turnovers and shot 45-percent from the floor overall. The Mastodons fell to 14-9 and 6-6 in the Horizon League.
Five Vikings finished in double figures, in a balanced offensive scoring attack. Tristan Enaruna led the way with 19 points overall, finishing 9-14 from the floor. Enaruna added eight rebounds and five assists, a season best.
Drew Lowder had a big game, pouring in 16 points. Lowder finished a stellar 6-8 from the floor, including 3-4 from three-point range.
Three Vikings finished with 10 points apiece: Tae Williams, Deshon Parker, and Yahel Hill. Williams finished 5-7 from the floor, and added two assists and a steal. Parker finished with three assists and went a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line. Hill came off the bench to register his highest scoring output since the start of the new year, finishing 3-6 from the floor.
Cleveland State led the entire way, and finished with a decided edge in the paint at 46-34.
The Vikings got off to a fast start, scoring 11 of the game's first 15 points to open up a seven-point lead early. Drew Lowder knocked down his first triple try at the 15:34 mark to make it 11-4 Cleveland State.
Purdue Fort Wayne fought back, and kept it close for most of the rest of the first half. Cleveland State closed the half with a late run to push the lead into double-digits going into the break. An and-one conversion from Lowder pushed the lead to 11 at 40-29 with 2:43 left. The lead held firm at 11 headed into the halftime locker room.
The Viking lead grew to as large as 14 with a little over six minutes to go in the second half, on a Williams fast break layup which made it 71-57. Purdue Fort Wayne staged a comeback attempt, and briefly pulled within one possession with three minutes left.
After the two teams traded empty trips down the floor, a big bucket by Yahel Hill with 1:46 left pushed the Viking lead back to five, and Cleveland State finished strong to earn the victory.
Purdue Fort Wayne's Damian Chong Qui led all scorers in the game with 31 points.
The Vikings return to the Wolstein Center court on Sunday, hosting IUPUI. The game with the Jaguars is slated for a 3 p.m. tip.