Jan. 31, 2009
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes
Contact: Brian McCann
Cleveland , Ohio - The Vikings took the lead with just over seven minutes left in the first half and never looked back in topping Wright State, 59-50 on Saturday night. Norris Cole led the shooting onslaught for the Vikings with a 20-point performance.
With the win the Vikings improved to 15-8 overall and 6-5 in the Horizon League, while the Raiders fell to 13-9 and 7-4 in league play.
The win allowed CSU to improve to 9-2 at home this year and break the school record for most victories in successive seasons in the Wolstein Center with 21 over the last two seasons.
J'Nathan Bullock scored in double digits for the 20th time this season with his 14 points.
"Today was a hard-fought game and I thought they didn't quit," head coach Gary Waters said. "They came back at us. We could have been a little better to start the second half, but I put a lot of that on me. We should have been quicker and I thought we could have knocked them out."
It was a tale of two halves at the end of the first half. The first 10 minutes were plagued by turnovers and bad shooting from both sides.
After falling behind early, CSU came storming back, led by Norris Cole. Cole knocked down back-to-back three's narrowing the Raiders lead to five at 12-9.
The Vikings began to pull away with a 10-0 run, beginning with two Cedric Jackson free throw, giving CSU their first lead of the game with just over seven minutes left in the half.
Bullock had the hot hand late in the first half scoring 10 points two three's and a lay-up and two free-throws.
Trevon Harmon also was solid from the field late in the half with two three pointers of his own.
At the end of the first half, the Vikings led 35-17. This was the eighth time the defense has held an opponent under 20 points.
"We've been talking about getting back on track and getting our momentum back," Waters said. "We had some momentum where we won eight of nine, but then went on the trip and lost."
Wright State came out of the locker room with the momentum. The Raiders went on an 18-4 run narrowing the Viking lead to six points.
With the Raiders closing the gap to six points, Cole came up clutch draining a three giving the Vikings a 42-33 lead.
After exchanging lay-ups, CSU clung to a 44-37 lead with less than 10 minutes remaining in the game.
With the Raiders again closing in, Cole duplicated his first half magic with five straight points. Cole hit a huge three pointer and followed it up with a jumper expanding the Viking lead to seven at 53-46 with one and a half minutes left.
Wright State however would not give up. The Raiders continued to keep the score close late in the game. Will Graham hit both of his free-throws to narrow the Viking lead to seven.
A pair of Harmon and Jeremie Montgomery free-throws iced the game, giving the Vikings a 59-50 win.
"If we want to have good positioning in the tournament, we have to do well on this road trip," Waters said. "And I think we'll be more prepared and focused and ready to play."
George Tandy pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds along with five points and a pair of blocked shots.
For the game, the Vikings shot 40 percent from the field, while limiting Wright State to 35 percent.
The Raiders were led by Troy Tabler who knocked down 12 points with three assists.
"If you get a good crowd, they can help lift you and I thought tonight's crowd was great," Waters said. "Our guys came out and saw a lot of people in the stands and really lifted us tonight. And that's what we have to establish here. We are going to compete."
The Vikings head to Chicago for a pair of games, playing at UIC on Thursday (Feb. 5) at 7:00 p.m. CST (8:00 in Cleveland ) and at Loyola on Saturday (Feb. 7) at 3:00 p.m. CST (4:00 p.m. in Cleveland ). Both games will be broadcast on SportsTime Ohio.
