Dec. 27, 2008
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Balanced scoring and another strong defensive effort helped Cleveland State run its season-high win streak to five straight with a 91-40 victory over Notre Dame College on Saturday afternoon in the Wolstein Center.
CSU improved to 10-4, while NDC slipped to 9-5.
The Vikings held NDC to a .313 (15-48) effort from the floor, marking the ninth time in 14 games this season that a CSU held an opponent under 40-percent from the field. It was also the eighth time in the last nine games that a Viking opponent failed to hit the 40-percent mark from the field.
"I thought our kids came out ready to play," head coach Gary Waters said. "Their minds are focused and they are ready for the league and we are starting to put things together. They went out and worked on execution, which is what we had to do today. I thought a lot of guys did a good job and I can't single out any player today."
Norris Cole led CSU with 14 points and four assists, while Cedric Jackson finished with 10 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals. D'Aundray Brown had 10 points and four assists and J'Nathan Bullock added eight points and seven rebounds.
All 13 players that played for the Vikings scored at least one point, while 12 of the 13 recorded at least one rebound.
The game was never in doubt for the Vikings, who scored 17 of the games first 18 points to assume a 17-1 lead seven minutes in when Cedric Jackson had a steal and converted a layup. On the previous possession, Jackson grabbed a defensive rebound and took it the length of the court for a dunk.
The Vikings hit seven of their first 10 shots from the field and once again used a stifling defensive effort to limit the Falcons to just nine points through the first 17 minutes of the contest.
"You have to take it that each game is a learning experience and I think this team has learned from the day we started to now. They understand where we are trying to go and what we are trying to accomplish," Waters said.
Leading 26-7 at the 7:26 mark, the Vikings used a three-pointer from Cole, back-to-back layups from Brown and Bullock and another Cole three-pointer to take its biggest lead of the half (36-) with 5:36 to play.
However, the Falcons started to show signs of life down the stretch in the first half, using an 10-4 run over the final three minutes to go into the locker room down, 40-17.
CSU forced 12 Falcon turnovers, turning them into 12 first half points, while also holding NDC to a paltry 6-of-27 (.222) effort from the field. In contrast, the Vikings hit 14-of-29 (.483) from the floor, including four three-pointers.
Consecutive layups from Chris Moore, Bullock and Cole to open the second half extended the Viking lead back to 29 points (46-17).
The 91 points by Cleveland State was a season high, topping the old high of 77 against Toledo and the 40 points scored by Notre Dame College was a season-low by a Viking opponent.
The Vikings set a new season high in steals (15), assists (23) and free throw percentage (78%).
Eric Dummermuth led the Falcons with 14 points and seven rebounds.
The Vikings will be back in action on Tuesday, Dec. 30, when they return to league action with a 7:00 p.m. contest at Wright State.
