Feb. 14, 2009
Cleveland, Ohio - A strong defensive effort and clutch free throw shooting was the key to an 83-75 win over the Green Bay Phoenix Saturday (2/14) in the Wolstein Center.
The Vikings improve to 19-8 overall and 10-5 in Horizon League action, while Green Bay falls to 19-8 overall and 11-4 in league action.
The Vikings were led Norris Cole who drained a career high 21 points, J'Nathan Bullock added 18 points, which marks the 23rd time this season he has scored in double digits.
D'Aundray Brown grabbed a career high 11 rebounds, his third double digit rebounding effort in just four games.
"Our kids were resilient," head coach Gary Waters said. "They took the run that Green Bay made and fought back hard and took the hit. We weathered the storm and I like the way we did that. Everything worked to perfection down the stretch."
The Vikings started tonight's game red hot jumping out to an early 16-0 run.
Bullock scored the first Vikings points of the evening with a three pointer, before fellow senior, Chris Moore added a jump shot of his own giving CSU a five point lead.
Following a Cedric Jackson free throw, Norris Cole stepped up and drained a three pointer of his own extending the Viking lead to nine.
Cleveland State continued adding onto their lead, scoring seven, highlighted by a Jackson three.
Green Bay would get on the board first thanks to two Troy Cotton free throws, along with two free throws from Randy Berry sandwiched in between a Trevon Harmon lay-up.
The Phoenix would close narrow the margin to nine thanks to a 7-2 run after a Cotton three pointer.
With the Phoenix threatening, Cole once again drained a three, and Moore added two free throws expanding the Viking lead back to 14.
Green Bay would pull back within 10 after Ryan Tillema scored his first points of the evening on a three pointer.
The second half started as a shootout as the two teams combined for 25 points in the first four minutes of the second half.
Cole came out with the hot hand, scoring the first five points for the Vikings, including a long distance three pointer to begin the half.
As the Phoenix began to creep back into the game, the duo of Bullock, and Cole stepped up and scored 15 points extending the lead back to 17 at 60-43. Cole led the way with eight points and Bullock added five of his own.
Green Bay however would not go away, after five points from Mike Schachtner, the Phoenix used the charity stripe to score eight points and pull within four points at 64-60.
With the Phoenix closing in, Bullock stepped up and scored five unanswered points stretching the Viking lead back to nine with just over five minutes left.
Green Bay would continue to quietly work their way back narrowing the Viking lead to two, with the score of 71-70, as Schachtner scored six points and Randy Berry added a lay-up.
After a slow start, George Tandy scored four straight points off a lay-up and two free throws, extending the Viking lead to 75-70.
After a Raymond Fletcher bucket brought the score to 77-73, Chris Moore followed with a lay-up putting the Vikings up by four with just over 30 seconds remaining.
D'Aundray Brown gave the Vikings a little breathing room after draining back-to-back free throws, before Bullock sealed the deal with a pair of free throws of his own giving CSU an 81-75 lead.
Cole added another set of free throws, giving the Vikings an 83-75 victory.
"I told them we had to do three things," Waters said. "We had to make our free throws and we couldn't turn the ball over. We had a key turnover, but we recovered from it and we defended well down the stretch."
"I'm happy that the team is listening and getting an understanding of what we need to do. Youngstown is coming in feeling pretty confident so Wednesday is going to be a big game and we really have to focus on this team."
On senior night, Renard Fields came off the bench for the 100th time in his career, securing two records. He is the CSU record holder for fewest starts among players with 100 games played and most games played without a start.
CSU shot 50-percent from the field, while holding Green Bay to just 42.6-percent.
The Phoenix were led by Ryan Tillema who knocked down 18 points with six rebounds.
The Vikings close the regular season home schedule against Youngstown State on Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 7:00 p.m.
