Feb. 14, 2007
Contact: Brian McCann
FAIRBORN, Ohio - Wright State's Todd Brown scored 22 points, including a pair of three-pointers to open a decisive 17-0 scoring run as Wright State fought off the Vikings for a 68-55 victory over Cleveland State in the Nutter Center on Wednesday night.
Cleveland State had fought back from an 11-point first half deficit to take a 51-49 lead with 9:11 left before the Vikings went scoreless over the next 5:43.
Brown, a freshman from Canton McKinley High, buried back-to-back treys to give the Raiders the lead for good, 57-51 with 7:58 remaining.
Patrick Tatham and Joe Davis led CSU with 12 points each while Victor Morris added 10. DaShaun Wood scored 14 points for WSU with Drew Burleson adding 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
The loss, CSU's fifth straight, dropped the Vikings to 8-19 on the year and 2-12 in Horizon League play, assuring CSU of finishing the regular season in ninth place in the conference. Wright State, which entered the contest with a half-game lead over Butler in the Horizon League race, improved to 20-8 overall and 13-2 in league play.
Waters made a change in the starting lineup for only the fourth time this year and the first by choice. Victor Morris moved back into the starting unit for the first time since the Dec. 9 contest at Ohio State. Morris played in his 100th game as a Viking (26th all-time at CSU), starting for the 56th time in his career.
CSU played the game without reserve forward Renard Fields, who sprained an ankle earlier in the week in practice and did not make the road trip, leaving Waters with just nine players for the contest (seven scholarship).
The Vikings started out quickly as Patrick Tatham scored nine of CSU's first 11 points - including the first seven of the game -- to help the Vikings to an 11-6 lead with 13:40 left.
Wright State fought off some cold shooting early and came back, running off 14 of the next 15 points to build a 20-12 advantage with 8:32 left.
CSU would close to within three (20-17) on a basket inside from Bullock and a three-pointer from Raheem Moss, but consecutive treys by Vaughn Duggins started an 8-0 Raider run that extended the lead to 28-17 with 3:24 left.
Three-pointers by Joe Davis and Raheem Moss in the final minutes of the half allowed CSU to close the gap to 33-27 at the break.
First half foul trouble plagued CSU as Wright State went to the line 16 times in the contest, making 15 for a CSU opponent season-high .938 free throw percentage. The Vikings went to the line just eight times, making five.
The Vikings started out the second stanza strong, using a 12-6 run to even the game at 39-39 on a basket by Bullock off an offensive rebound with 15:56 left.
Wright State took the lead right back on a basket by Todd Brown but Davis answered with a three-point play to give CSU its first lead since midway through the first half, 42-41 with 13:54 left.
The lead traded hands several times over the next five minutes and was tied at 49-49 when Moss scored inside with 9:11 left.
CSU would not score again until the 3:28 mark when Morris buried a three-pointer, but by then the damage had been done and Wright State led, 66-54.
Cleveland State did another good job taking care of the ball, matching a season-low with just eight turnovers, five of which came on offensive fouls. It was the fifth time in six games that CSU had 10 or fewer turnovers.
Wright State had a shooting edge in the contest, going 12-for-22 from the field in the second half (.545) to shoot .489 for the contest (23-47). CSU was 22-50 from the field, including just six-for-25 from beyond the arc (.240).
The Vikings have a short time to get ready for their next game, traveling to Northridge, Calif. to take on Cal State Northridge on Saturday (Feb. 17) in an O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters contest that will tip off at 10:00 p.m. EST.
