Cleveland, OH-"It's an all hands on deck type of day," head coach Daniyal Robinson told his team prior to the Vikings' Saturday afternoon matchup against Purdue Fort Wayne. The visiting Mastodons gave Cleveland State all it could handle, but the Vikings came from 15 points down in the second half to earn a 75-68 victory in front of 1,736 at the Wolstein Center. Cleveland State extended the nation's second-longest active home winning streak to 18 games.
Cleveland State improves to 12-8 overall and 5-4 in the Horizon League. Purdue Fort Wayne falls to 13-7 and 4-5.
Every player in Cleveland State's nine-man rotation that saw the floor found the score sheet. Drew Lowder led the way with 23 points, including finishing 5-of-10 from three-point range. Lowder added four assists, two rebounds and a steal. Tae Williams finished with 11 points and eight boards. Williams was an efficient 5-of-9 from the field.
Dylan Arnett and Tristan Enaruna each finished with eight points. Tevin Smith added seven and Chase Robinson chipped in six off the bench, helping the Vikings to a 22-14 edge in bench scoring.
The Vikings shared the ball exceptionally well, finishing with 23 assists on 29 made field goals. Enaruna and Williams both set career highs in assists. Enaruna finished with eight and Williams dished out seven.
Cleveland State got off to a fast start, the Vikings scored the first five points of the game and Williams converted an and-one just over 90 seconds in that put CSU ahead 8-2.
The Vikings stretched the lead to as high as nine points midway through the first half. An Arnett dunk at the 9:33 mark made it 25-16 Cleveland State.
Purdue Fort Wayne responded with a quick 10-0 run to take its first lead of the ballgame. A Rasheed Bello triple at the 6:17 mark gave the Mastodons a 26-25 lead.
The lead changed hands several times as the first half came to a close. Purdue Fort Wayne led by two, 35-33 at the halftime break.
The early going of the second half shifted the momentum completely to the visitors. Purdue Fort Wayne opened the half on a 15-2 run to take its largest lead. It was 50-35 Mastodons with 13:52 remaining.
The Vikings slowly chipped away at the deficit and mounted a 10-0 run over three minutes of game action to cut the deficit back to five. A Robinson three-pointer followed by a Williams fast-break dunk brought the Wolstein Center crowd to life and punctuated the run, forcing a Purdue Fort Wayne timeout with 8:11 remaining.
Cleveland State continued to inch closer, thanks to Lowder getting hot from long range. He drained back-to-back three-pointers, the second of which came from the Cleveland State logo near center court, to trim the deficit to two with 6:37 to go.
Lowder provided another key bucket, hitting a fast-break layup to tie the score at 64 with 4:37 to go. Smith followed with two free throws at the 4:08 mark to give Cleveland State a lead it would not relinquish down the stretch.
The game featured four lead changes and six ties. Cleveland State was solid from the free throw line down the stretch in securing the victory.
The Vikings look to extend the home winning streak to 19 games when Wright State comes to town on Thursday, January 25. The game will tip at 7:00 p.m. Click HERE to purchase tickets.
