CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cleveland State had six players in double figures and shot 51-percent from the field to claim an 87-74 victory over Robert Morris on Saturday afternoon in the Wolstein Center as part of the Keightley Classic.
The win improves CSU to 3-2 this season and keeps the Vikings perfect at home (2-0). RMU fell to 3-3 this year.
Bryn Forbes scored a game-high 18 points, including an 8-for-9 effort at the free throw line. He knocked down his first eight free tosses, extending his consecutive make streak to 28 to open the season.
Charlie Lee added 17 points and four assists, while Anton Grady finished with 13 points, six rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks. Jon Harris chipped in 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench and Sebastian Douglas tallied 10 points and five rebounds.
Trey Lewis recorded 13 points and four assists.
Jeremiah Worthem led the Colonials with 16 points off the bench.
The Colonials jumped out to a quick 14-4 lead less than six minutes into the contest thanks to a 6-of-9 effort from the field early on. Forbes hit a three-pointer, but RMU answered with a three on the other end to regain a 10 point advantage (17-7) at the 13:50 mark.
But two Grady free throws and a three-pointer by Forbes ignited a 15-1 CSU run as the Vikings gained a four-point lead (22-18) on a Sebastian Douglas bucket with eight minutes in the half.
The Vikings extended the lead to as many as nine points (33-24) on a Grady layup with just under two minutes left in the half.
However, the Colonials answered with five straight points to close the halftime gap to four points (33-29).
Douglas opened the second half with a three-point play and Lee followed with a three-pointer to extend the CSU lead to 10 points (39-29) less than a minute into the second half. A Lee three-pointer with 14:17 left gave the Vikings their biggest lead of the night, 53-35, but the Colonials began to claw back, cutting the deficit to five points (59-54) with eight minutes left.
The lead was still five with 7:33 to play (61-56), but Lee made a layup, hit a pair of free throws and Grady converted a three-point play to push the CSU advantage back to 12 points (68-56) with 6:13 left and RMU would not threaten the rest of the night.
The Vikings shot 23-of-45 (.511) from the field and were aided by a 34-of-44 (.773) performance at the free throw line.
RMU was 23-of-58 (.397) from the field and 23-of-33 (.697) at the charity stripe. The Colonials held a slim 33-32 advantage on the glass.
The Vikings return to action on Monday (Nov. 25) when CSU concludes play in the Keightley Classic at 7:00 p.m. at #4 Kentucky.
GAME NOTES
- CSU improved to 2-0 at home this year.
- The Vikings evened the all-time series with Robert Morris at 8-8. The teams have split six games over the last six years.
- Head coach Gary Waters won his 310th career game.
- Bryn Forbes went 8-of-9 at the free throw line, missing his final attempt. It snapped a string of 28 straight makes to open the season and 30 consecutive makes dating to last season.
- CSU improved to 22-5 in November over the last four seasons.
- CSU's bench scored 24 points, the third time in five games it produced at least 20 points.
- The Vikings have scored at least 70 points in four of their five games this year. The lone game CSU did not reach 70 points, they scored 69 at Eastern Michigan.
