Dec. 22, 2010
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes
By: Robert Ivory
CLEVELAND, Ohio-It was a back-and-forth contest all night between the Cleveland State Vikings and the Bulls of South Florida, Wednesday night at the Wolstein Center.
That was until Norris Cole stood up and scored 17 of his 27 in the final 12 minutes and aided Cleveland State to a 69-62 win over their Big East opponent.
"I thought that our guys made a decision in the second half that they were going play harder," Cleveland State head coach Gary Waters said. "We kept the pressure on and what's what we needed to do. We finally started hitting some shots down the stretch."
The win moves Cleveland State to 13-1.
Cleveland State lost the battle of the boards (49-26), blocks (10-4) and was outshot (48%-40.6%), but set a school record for turning the ball over just four times, while South Florida had 24 turnovers, turning into 22 CSU points.
"One of the things I thought we did, was I thought we fought and we got to loose balls," Waters said. "We got loose balls and got steals and those made up for all these deficiencies in the game."
Cole finished the ballgame with 27 points (11-21), three rebounds, three assists, and a steal in 30 minutes of play.
"I knew I had to get out there," Cole said after foul trouble in the first half. "Our role players kept it close and in the second half it was about me coming out and leading and playing my part."
CSU's defense held well, as USF's top scorers Jawanza Poland (11.3 ppg) and Augustus Gilchrist (10.7 ppg) scored just 11 points combined in the first 37 minutes of the ballgame.
Trevon Harmon and Aaron Pogue led the team with foul steals each.
Right from the start, CSU and USF would not let their opposition run too far ahead. Leads were hard to come by as the score was tied five different times in the first half.
Waters used his `big' lineup early, with the combination of Joe Latas and Luda Ndaye, in addition to starter Aaron Pogue.
"I thought they had to deal with Aaron (Pogue) in there. He didn't make a lot of baskets, but he helped keep the pressure on."
USF was able to push out to a seven-point lead with 5:29 to go in the half on a Ron Anderson, Jr. free throw. Back-to-back baskets from Jeremy Montgomery was the majority of the Viking's six point run.
After Pogue broke up a cross-court pass on a fast break, the ball got into Montgomery who put the layup in, drew the foul, but missed the free throw to make it 20-17. Ndaye picked an offensive rebound and dropped the basket to get CSU within one.
Ndaye scored all of his seven points and six of his seven rebounds at the half.
"I didn't really think about scoring," Ndaye said. "I just wanted to help my teammates."
Montgomery capped the 9-2 run by the Vikings by hitting a long three from the top left hand side of the arc to make it a tied ballgame, 22-22 with 3:35 left in the half.
Jarrid Famous hit a pair of three throws and Hugh Robertson hit a jumper of his own to take the Bulls back up by four. Ndaye again grabbed the rebound and got the basket, taking it to 26-24 with 1:40 left.
USF had a crack at the final shot of the half, but the CSU defense was able to force the Bulls to miss an uncomfortable three point shot, although South Florida went into the half leading 26-24.
Jeremy Montgomery kept the Vikings in the game in the first half, leading the team with nine at the break.
In the second, Norris Cole hit a three pointer on the fast break to again tie the ballgame at 30 early in the half. CSU retook the lead after a USF turnover when Cole hit Montgomery on the fast break and Montgomery hit the scoop shot (although it was called for goaltending).
That basket gave the Vikings a 32-30 lead, the first lead they had since the 18:19 mark of the game (2-1).
Hugh Robinson hit a three at 13:48 to cap a 5-0 run and make it 41-36, South Florida.
Then, the playmaker entered.
Norris Cole answered with a three of his own, he then hit a left handed hook in the lane, and hit a layup, drew the foul and completed the three point play from the line, giving back the lead to the Vikes, 44-43.
Cole, who had two points at the half, showed why he is considered one of the best guards in the nation.
Cleveland State never trailed from that point, as Cole had an answer for what USF threw at him.
A Montgomery three from the left hand side took the Vikings to their biggest lead on the night, six (54-48) with 7:55 to go. Shaun Norigea answered with a three of his own, but Montgomery again hit a wide-open three of his own from the top left-hand side of the arc to again extend it to a six point lead, 57-51.
"Those were pretty big and it was real emotional in that gym, it was pretty rowdy," Montgomery said. "I just love to knock them down for my team."
Montgomery finished 3-8 from three point land.
A Cole floater under the basket took CSU out to a ten-point lead, 61-51, with 4:27 to go.
USF was able to climb within five in the closing minutes of the game, but a pair of Montgomery free throws with 24 seconds left and a pair from Cole with nine seconds sealed the win.
The Vikings ended the night to a standing ovation by the Cleveland State faithful.
"When the crowd gets into it," Cole said, "It makes us pretty hard to beat here at home."
The Vikings next take a week off for the holiday, but return on Thursday (Dec. 30) to begin league play as they face Loyola starting at 7:00 p.m. at the Wolstein Center. Cleveland State brings in 2011 with a New Year's Day contest with UIC at 2:00 p.m. at the Wolstein Center.
