DETROIT, Mich. – Juwan Howard, Jr., hit a go-ahead three-pointer from 30-feet with 4.8 seconds left and Charlie Lee's runner rimmed in and out at the buzzer as Detroit knocked off Cleveland State, 66-65, on Friday night.
The Vikings fell to 15-11 overall and 9-3 in the Horizon League, while Detroit improved to 12-15 overall and 5-7 in the league.
CSU dropped into a tie for second place in the league with Green Bay, who lost at first place Valparaiso (10-2) tonight.
Trey Lewis led CSU with 23 points and five rebounds, while Anton Grady had 12 points and five rebounds. Lee finished with 11 points and Vinny Zollo grabbed nine rebounds.
Howard, Jr., scored 23 points for the Titans.
The Vikings, who rallied from a 14 point second half deficit, had one final chance after Howard's long three-pointer. Lee took the ball out under the CSU basket and inbounded it to Grady at the free throw line.
Grady quickly got the ball back to a sprinting Lee who made his way up the court and shot a floater from the left wing that rimmed in and out.
The Titans led the entire first half and took a 35-27 lead into the locker room as the Vikings battled foul trouble with Andre Yates and Terrell Hales picking up three and three other Vikings picking up two each.
Juwan Howard, Jr., scored five quick points to start the second half as the Detroit lead swelled to 40-27, forcing a CSU timeout.
The lead reached as many as 15 points (42-27; 18:25), but the Vikings began to slowly chip away, pulling within three (50-47) midway through the second half on a Grady three-point play. Four straight points by the Titans gave them a seven point advantage, but CSU responded with a 7-1 run to pull within one (55-54) with 5:34 to play.
It was back and forth from there until Lewis gave the Vikings their first lead of the night (62-59) with a three-pointer with 56 seconds left. Paris Bass answered with a dunk on the other end and after Lee hit two free throws, the Titans scored another quick bucket to get the CSU lead back down to one. Lewis split two free throws with 13 seconds left before Howard Jr. hit the long three.
The Vikings are back in action on Sunday (Feb. 15) when CSU hosts UIC at 3:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center. The game will be broadcast live on the American Sports Network and online at www.AmericanSportsNet.com.
The game can also be heard on AM 1220 WHKW with Al Pawlowski providing the play-by-play.
