QUICK HITS
- Senior Dontel Highsmith scored a season-high 19 points on a perfect 7-of-7 shooting from the floor, which included making all five of his three-point attempts
- Freshman Rashad Williams also had 19 points for the Vikings
- Freshman Rashad Williams tied the Cleveland State freshman school record for three-pointers in a season with 66
- Aleksa Popovic scored a career-high seven points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field
- Stefan Kenic had nine points, six rebounds and two assists for the Vikings
- Brad Brechting scored 32 points on 14-of-15 shooting from the field for the Golden Grizzlies
GAME RECAP
ROCHESTER, Mich. -- Senior Dontel Highsmith and freshman Rashad Williams each scored 19 points, but Brad Brechting scored 32 points leading Oakland to an 83-68 Horizon League victory over Cleveland State on Saturday in the O'rena.
Highsmith was a perfect 7-of-7 from the field, which included a 5-of-5 performance from the three-point line to surpass his previous season high of 11 points in the first meeting against Oakland on Dec. 28.
Williams added 19 points for the Vikings and reached double figures in scoring for the eighth time in the last 10 games. He was 5-of-14 from the three-point line, which upped his season total to 66 three-pointers tying James Madison for the freshman school record for Cleveland State.
Stefan Kenic had nine points and a team-high six rebounds for the Vikings, while freshman Aleksa Popovic scored a career-high seven poits on 3-of-6 shooting from the field.
Cleveland State, aided by the performance of Highsmith, shot 41.9 percent from the three-point line for the game.
Brechting was 14-of-15 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the foul line to finish with a career-high 32 points. Jaevin Cumberland had 20 points, while Xavier Hill-Mais finished with 10 points ad 11 rebounds.
Oakland, which improved to 11-13 overall and 7-4 in the Horizon League, shot 59.2 percent from the floor for the contest. Cleveland State dropped to 6-18 overall and 1-10 in league play with the loss.
Oakland raced out to a 10-0 lead to start the game, but following a CSU timeout the Vikings responded with a 10-4 run to climb right back into the game. Williams and Highsmith capped the run with back-to-back three-pointers to bring the Vikings to within 14-10 with 13:19 to play in the opening half.
Oakland stretched the lead to 10 points, but Williams and Popovic connected on back-to-back three-pointers to cut the lead to 25-21 with 6:53 to play in the first period.
Brechting hit consecutive layups to help the Golden Grizzlies extend the lead to 34-25, but the Vikings once again fought back keyed by a three-pointer from Highsmith and a three-pointer by Kenic to trim the lead to 36-33 with 2:13 to play in the opening half.
Oakland closed the first half on a 7-0 run to take a 43-33 lead into the intermission.
The Golden Grizzlies extended the lead to 14 points early in the second half, but CSU used an 8-1 run to cut the lead to 62-55 with 9:52 to play in the game.
But Oakland countered with a 15-2 run that pushed the lead to 77-57 with 5:05 remaining in the game.
Cleveland State returns to action on Thursday (Feb. 7) when it hosts Green Bay at 7 p.m. in the Wolstein Center.
