Nov. 13, 2012
Contact: Greg Murphy
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Fifth-ranked Michigan used a strong first half and a solid shooting performance to claim a 77-47 victory over Cleveland State in the NIT Season Tip-Off North Regional Championship game on Tuesday night at the Crisler Center.
CSU fell to 2-1 overall, while the Wolverines improved to 3-0 and advance to the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off next week in New York.
Anton Grady led the Vikings with 15 points, while Marlin Mason, Tim Kamczyc and Charlie Lee scored six points each. Lee also had five assists, increasing his season total to 22 through three games this year.
The Wolverines scored the first eight points of the game, forcing a quick CSU timeout less than four minutes into the contest. The Vikings responded with a 9-5 run behind six points from Grady to pull within 13-9. But three straight Michigan buckets pushed the lead back to 10 points (19-9) as the Wolverines used that momentum to take a 42-14 halftime lead.
The Wolverines shot 64-percent (18-28) from the field in the first half.
CSU was coming off an overtime win against Bowling Green in an opening round game last night in which four of its starters logged at least 40 minutes.
Tim Hardaway, Jr. led Michigan with 17 points, while Nik Stauskas had 15 and Trey Burke scored 12 with seven assists.
CSU is back in action on Saturday (Nov. 17) when the Vikings host Old Dominion at 2:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center.
