Nov. 27, 2008
Contact: Brian McCann
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MIAMI, Fla. - J'Nathan Bullock scored 16 points and D'Aundray Brown and Cedric Jackson added 15 points each as Cleveland State rallied from a five-point second half deficit to defeat Florida International, 66-58, and claim the team title at the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic Miami regional.
The Vikings, who defeated Saint Leo, Toledo and Florida International in successive days, improved to 4-2 to win CSU its fourth tournament team title in school history and the first since winning the Koch Petroleum Islander Classic in 2000-01.
"I knew going into the game that this was going to be a challenge," CSU head coach Gary Waters said. "We were playing our fourth game in five days and we really didn't have our legs tonight. We were also going against a team on its home court that was coming off a loss to a team that it should have beat which made them play even harder.
"I am happy with out effort this week. We showed some more improvement on offense, and our defensive pressure was steady in every game. And, when we needed it tonight, we were able to turn our defense up a notch in the second half and turn around the game."
After controlling the game for the 24 minutes, the Vikings had their 11-point lead evaporate when Michael Dominguez scored inside to put FIU (3-3) ahead, 35-34 with 17:36 remaining.
The deficit would grow. When Nikola Gacesa connected on a long three-pointer with 12:03 left, CSU would trail 44-39.
The Viking defense took over after that, holding the Golden Panthers without a field goal for more than 10 minutes and allowing the offense to take over.
Bullock started the comeback by scoring inside and Norris Cole followed with a jumper to pull CSU to within one, 44-43 with 9:37 left.
After a pair of Russell free throws, Jackson took over. He make a layup in heavy traffic after a coast-to-coast run after making a steal and then started another fast break by blocking a shot in the lane, finishing it by making both free throws after being fouled to put the Vikings ahead, 47-46 with 7:08 left.
CSU would not trail again.
The Vikings would force a turnover and get a Chris Moore blocked shot on the next two possessions, turning them into baskets in the lane from Cole and Bullock to push the lead to 51-46.
After a pair of Dominquez free throws, the Vikings stuck the dagger in the heart of FIU when Jackson and Brown would connect on back-to-back treys to give CSU a 57-48 lead with 2:01 left.
The rest of the game turned into a free throw shooting contest as the Vikings made seven of nine free throw attempts down the stretch to ice the game.
"Our experience really showed at the end," Waters said. "Once we took the lead, we made good choices on offense and continued to play hard defensively to secure the win. When we play like this, we are a difficult team to defeat."
The night was a memorable one for Bullock, who moved past Jamaal Harris and Dave Youdath and into 10th place on the CSU career scoring chart with 1,317 points. He also started his 75th consecutive game to tie Weldon Kytle for the fourth-longest streak in school history.
As they did in each of the first two games, the Vikings started out quickly on offense, opening up an 11-2 lead with 14:35 left. Bullock and Brown each scored four of the 11 points with Jackson adding a three-pointer.
FIU did not make its first field goal until the 13:28 mark when Cedric Essola scored inside and was fouled, cutting the lead to 11-5.
CSU would never trail in the opening stanza, leading anywhere from three to nine points before going to the locker room with a 32-29 lead.
After shooting just .344 in the first three games, the Vikings have bounced back, combining to shoot more than 50-percent in the three games this week, including a 24-for-52 effort (.462) against Florida International.
The Vikings return home for the Thanksgiving break, beginning Horizon League play with games against Valparaiso (Tuesday, Dec. 2) and Butler (Thursday, Dec. 4) in the Wolstein Center.
