March 2, 2004
DETROIT (AP) - Jimmy Twyman scored 13 points Tuesday to lead Detroit Mercy to a 62-36 win over Cleveland State in the first round of the Horizon League championship tournament.
Elijah Warren added 11 points and nine rebounds for the Titans (18-10), who have won nine consecutive games, the school's longest streak since the 1997-98 team won 11 straight.
Jermaine Robinson had 11 points for the Vikings (4-25), who ended the season with 23 consecutive losses, including an 0-17 streak against conference opponents.
The fourth-seeded Titans play either Wright State or Loyola of Chicago on Friday in a quarterfinal game at Butler.
Detroit scored the first eight points of the game and led 25-17 at halftime, but didn't break away from the Vikings until midway through the second half, when it outscored Cleveland State 17-1 during a five-minute period.
The Vikings, who made only 28 percent of their field-goal attempts, turned the ball over 18 times. Detroit turned those miscues into 22 points.
Cleveland State, coached by former Michigan State assistant Mike Garland, set a school record for losses in a season and won its fewest games since it went 0-19 as Fenn College during the 1959-60 season. An assortment of injuries during the season left the Vikings with just seven players in uniform for Tuesday's game.