Nov. 12, 2012
Contact: Greg Murphy
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Cleveland State used a career-high 21 points from Tim Kamczyc and double-doubles by Charlie Lee and Marlin Mason to claim a 79-73 victory over Bowling Green in a first round game of the NIT Season Tip-Off on Monday night in the Crisler Center.
CSU improved to 2-0 this year, while the Falcons fell to 1-1.
Kamczyc added seven rebounds, going 5-of-10 from three-point. Lee finished with 14 points and a career-best 10 assists, adding six rebounds, while Mason tallied 11 points and a career-best 13 rebounds.
Sebastian Douglas scored a career-best 16 points with six rebounds for CSU.
The Falcons scored the first seven points of the second half to turn a 33-33 tie into a 40-33 lead. They held that lead until Kamczyc drained a three-pointer with 5:30 to play that tied the contest at 58-58. After two Falcon free throws, Lee answered on the other end with a three-pointer to put the Vikings up by one (61-60) with 2:16 left.
A'uston Calhoun, who finished with a game-high 30 points, converted an old fashioned three-point play to put the Falcons back up one (62-61) and after CSU failed to score on the other end, Chauncey Orr made a layup in transition to extend the lead to three (64-61) with 1:24 left.
The Vikings turned to their senior Kamczyc once again and he responded with another three-pointer to knot the game at 64-64. After the teams traded baskets, the Falcons had a chance to win, but a steal by CSU with 3.5 seconds left gave them the final chance.
After a timeout, Anton Grady took an inbounds pass just past midcourt and drove the lane, but his bank shot was a little strong and the teams headed to overtime.
It was CSU's first overtime game since Nov. 17, 2007, a span of 170 games.
In the extra session, CSU found itself behind 70-68 with 3:39 to play, but once again turned to Kamczyc who knocked down a three-pointer to put the Vikings ahead for good, 71-70, with 3:16 to play.
Luda Ndaye, Mason and Douglas all hit two free throws apiece down the stretch to ice the game.
The first 20 minutes did not decide anything as the team's headed to the locker rooms deadlocked at 33-33. The Vikings were forced to play a small lineup for much of the half as Anton Grady and Luda Ndaye both picked up three fouls, while Aaron Scales had two. The trio combined to play just 10 minutes in the first half.
But the Vikings used eight points by Sebastian Douglas and seven each from Tim Kamczyc and Charlie Lee to offset the loss of their big men.
CSU started quickly, using a three-pointer by Douglas and buckets from Grady and Kamczyc to take a 7-0 lead four minutes in. The Falcons hung around early despite not making their first field goal until the 13:41 mark thanks to several trips to the free throw line.
BGSU took its first lead of the game on a Jordan Crawford layup midway through the first half to make it 17-15. But the Vikings, using a smaller lineup, responded with a 12-2 run, to regain an eight point lead (27-19) with 7:22 to go in the half. CSU managed just two more field goals the rest of the half as the Falcons closed the stanza on a 14-6 run to tie it.
CSU hit 9-of-20 (.450) from three-point and also forced 16 Falcon turnovers.
The Vikings will play a second round game in the NIT Season Tip-Off on Tuesday (Nov. 13) against the winner of tonight's other game between Michigan and IUPUI.
