CHICAGO, Ill. – Cleveland State hit 10 three-pointers and had four players in double figures and the Vikings led from start to finish in a 74-64 win at UIC in Horizon League action on Wednesday night in the UIC Pavilion.
The Vikings improved to 12-9 overall and 4-3 in the Horizon League, while UIC slipped to 5-15 overall and 0-6 in league play.
Bryn Forbes scored a game-high 20 points, adding four rebounds and three assists. It was his 11th career 20-point game and fifth this year as he hit 4-of-5 from three-point. Jon Harris tallied his second career double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Harris, who hit 4-of-5 from three-point, tallied his first career double-double in Sunday's setback to Wright State.
Trey Lewis finished with 16 points and five assists, while Anton Grady, who had missed the last two games with a concussion, returned tonight and notched 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots.
The Vikings finished 10-of-15 (.667) from three-point, outscoring the Flames, 30-12, from the three-point arc. The .667 percentage is the tops in the Horizon League this year.
Jake Weigand led UIC with 17 points and nine rebounds.
CSU was without its top reserve guard, Sebastian Douglas, who missed his third straight game with a concussion.
Lewis hit a three-pointer to start the scoring and CSU would not trail the rest of the night as the Viking lead grew to 10 points (25-15) on a Forbes three-pointer at the 5:44 mark of the opening half. The lead was still 10 points (29-19) with three minutes left in the half, but UIC used a pair of baskets to close the half and pull within six (29-23) at the intermission.
CSU opened the first seven minutes of the second half on a 14-8 run to take a 12 point lead (43-31) on a Harris three-pointer. The lead swelled to as many as 13 points, but the Flames would not go away, slicing their deficit to six (55-49) with just over five minutes to play.
However, Lewis made a layup and after a UIC bucket, Grady had a tip-in and sank two free throws as the lead grew back to 10 points (61-51) with 2:24 left and the Vikings hit 11 free throws over the final 90 seconds to ice the win.
CSU is back in action on Saturday (Jan. 25) when the Vikings host Valparaiso at 2:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center.
