Vikings Top Detroit, 66-49

Posted: Jan 29, 2009

Jan. 29, 2009

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CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cleveland State returned home for the first time in three weeks and snapped a three-game losing streak with a 66-49 win over Detroit on Thursday night in the Wolstein Center.

The win improved CSU to 14-8 overall and 5-5 in the Horizon League, while Detroit fell to 5-15 overall (0-10 HL).

The win was CSU's school-record fourth over the Titans and also helped the Vikings sweep the season series from UDM for the second time ever.

"It's good to be home," head coach Gary Waters said. "We finally started playing defense back to our ability. We had gotten away from our identity, but they worked hard to get back and that's why we're at where we are today. Norris, Cedric and George did a great job on the defensive end, especially on (Thomas) Kennedy. They really went to work on him and it means that we're playing the way that we are capable of playing.

"There is progress being shown in the program and I feel that we are getting it to a different level."

Norris Cole led the Vikings with a career-high tying 21 points, four rebounds and three assists. Cedric Jackson tallied 14 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals, while J'Nathan Bullock scored 11 points, moving past James Madison and into fourth place on the CSU career scoring list with 1,583 points.

The Vikings forced 20 turnovers, while committing just 12 of their own, while improving to 8-2 at home this season and 20-4 over the last two years, tying the school record for home wins in consecutive seasons (20 in 1998-00 & 1999-01).

"We knew we had 10 games left and five at home," Waters said. "We have to take care of business at home. We are trying to gain momentum now. It doesn't matter what you do now, it matters what you do in the tournament."

Cedric Jackson and J'Nathan Bullock combined for nine points in the first five and a half minutes, giving the Vikings a quick 11-4 advantage. However, an 8-1 Detroit run brought the Titans back to within one point (13-12) with 10:41 to play in the half.

Three lead changes and one tie ensued until the Vikings went on a 9-0 run to turn a one point deficit into a 30-22 lead with 3:18 to play on Cole's jumper. Cole wound up scoring all nine points in the run.

CSU pushed its lead to double digits (34-24) on a Cole layup with 51 seconds left in the half, but Chris Haynes hit a jumper just before the half to bring the Titans within 34-26 at the intermission.

Cole scored 14 first half points, while Jackson added eight.

The Vikings jumped on the Titans quickly in the second half, taking a 43-33 lead on a pair of free throws from Chris Moore and holding a double-digit lead the rest of the way.

CSU led by as many as 19 points in the second half as the Vikings held UDM to a paltry 7-of-24 (.292) effort from the field in the final 20 minutes.

Overall, the Titans shot .395 (17-43), becoming the 13th CSU opponent to shoot under .400 from the field for a game.

CSU also held a slim 32-31 advantage on the boards, limiting the Titans to just seven offensive rebounds.

Bullock grabbed eight, while Cole added four.

The Vikings will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 31, when they host Wright State at 7:30 p.m. in the Wolstein Center. It will be a doubleheader with the CSU women taking on UIC at 5:00 p.m.

It will be another Family Value Saturday with dollar dogs and a Free KidZone before the game. There is also an Alley-Oop Online Special in which fans can download a form at www.CSUVikings.com and receive a free $12 ticket with the purchase of a $12 ticket. In addition, it will be Take a Kid to the Game Day and kids 12 and under will receive a free ticket with the purchase of an adult ticket.