ROCHESTER, Mich. – Kaza Keane scored a career-high 16 points and Anton Grady notched his fourth straight double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, but Cleveland State dropped a 59-56 contest at Oakland on Monday night.
The Vikings fell to 12-10 overall and 6-2 in the Horizon League, while Oakland improved to 9-12 overall and 4-2 in the league, including 4-0 at home.
Keane, who was starting for the second straight game for Andre Yates who was limited with an ankle injury, hit 6-of-11 from the field and added six assists, five rebounds and two steals.
Grady posted his 15th career double-double and his sixth in league play, adding five steals, four assists and three blocked shots. Vinny Zollo added seven points in his second straight start, filling in for Marlin Mason who missed his second straight game (ill).
Derek Sloan added a career-high seven points and two rebounds off the bench.
Oakland used a strong performance at the free throw line, hitting 21-of-28 at the stripe, while CSU was just 6-of-7.
The Vikings trailed by six points (55-49) with just over three minutes to play, but a Keane layup, a three-pointer by Trey Lewis to beat the shot clock and Grady breakaway layup gave CSU a 56-55 lead with 43 seconds to play.
But Oakland stormed right back, using a Kahlil Felder layup with 33 seconds left to put Oakland ahead by one. Lewis took the ball to the rim on the next possession and drew contact, but did not get a call and Oakland got the rebound. Felder was fouled and hit two free throws to give the Golden Grizzlies a 59-56 lead and Lewis' three-pointer at the buzzer was off the front of the rim.
The Golden Grizzlies took an 8-4 lead, but the Vikings responded with 11 straight points, capped by a two-handed dunk from Derek Sloan that gave CSU a 15-8 lead eight minutes in.
But Grady was on the bench, picking up his second foul just seconds earlier, and Oakland took advantage, using a 16-1 run over the next six minutes to take a 24-16 lead with 6:07 to play in the half. Back-to-back buckets from Lee pulled CSU within four (24-20), but the Golden Grizzlies scored nine of the final 11 points of the half to take a 33-22 lead at the intermission.
Zollo sparked the Vikings to start the second half, scoring seven points as part of a 14-2 run that was capped by a short Grady jumper off the glass, giving CSU a 36-35 lead with just under 15 minutes left.
The Vikings are back in action on Saturday (Jan. 31) when CSU hosts Green Bay at 2:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center.
