VIDEO: Head Coach Gary Waters Postgame
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. – Marlin Mason scored 18 points and Anton Grady added 17 – including 15 in the second half – as Cleveland State earned a 68-59 win at Marshall on Friday night at the Henderson Center.
Both teams are now 3-3 this season.
Mason, who added two rebounds and a pair of steals, hit 4-of-6 from three-point and is now 10-of-14 from long range this year. Grady added four rebounds and two steals, while Trey Lewis finished with 14 points and seven assists.
Terrell Hales came off the bench to lead the team with six rebounds.
The Vikings raced out to a 33-22 halftime lead, despite the Vikings' top two scorers – Trey Lewis and Anton Grady – each picking up two early fouls and combining to play just 15 minutes.
The hot shooting behind the arc helped CSU build the first half lead as the Vikings hit 6-of-13 (.462) from three-point over the first 20 minutes, including Mason who hit all three of his attempts en route to 11 first half points.
On the other end of the court, CSU's defense held the Herd to just 7-of-24 (.292) shooting from the field over the first half, carrying over its defensive intensity from Wednesday night at Louisville where they held the Cardinals to 45 points.
Trailing 6-5 just five minutes in, the Vikings used a Mason three-pointer to start a 20-4 run over the next eight-and-a-half minutes that allowed CSU to take its largest lead of the half (25-10) at the 6:22 mark on a Vinny Zollo three-pointer.
Ryan Taylor scored six quick points to open the second half and held the Herd cut CSU's lead to five points (35-30). But a steal by Kaza Keane led to an alley-oop from Lewis to Mason that started an 8-2 spurt as the Vikings lead grew back to 11 points (43-32) on a pair of Lewis free throws.
The Herd would not go away, scoring the next nine points to slice the lead to two points (43-41) with 8:31 to play.
Grady took over on the offensive end for CSU, scoring nine of the Vikings next 11 points on a wide array of post moves and a baseline jumper to help keep CSU in front and a pair of Lewis three-pointers and another from Mason in the span of 1:40 helped seal the game for the Vikings.
The Vikings return home on Wednesday (Dec. 3) when CSU hosts Toledo at 7:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3, as well as AM 1220 WHKW with Al Pawlowski providing the play-by-play.
