CLEVELAND -- Cleveland State will open a four-game homestand on Thursday (Feb. 7) when it hosts Green Bay in a Horizon League game at 7 p.m. in the Wolstein Center.
The Vikings, who defeated Youngstown State 72-62 in the last last home game on Jan. 26, will also host Milwaukee on Feb. 9 and conclude the home poriton of its schedule against UIC (Feb. 14) and IUPUI (Feb. 16).
Cleveland State, battling injury and illness, dropped a pair of road games at Detroit Mercy (78-64) and Oakland (83-68). Leading scorer Tyree Appleby played only 10 minutes against Oakland after not playing against Detroit Mercy and starting guard Kasheem Thomas saw only six minutes of action against Detroit Mercy and did not play at Oakland.
As a result, the Vikings turned to their freshmen and the results were positive. Seth Millner, Deante Johnson, Rashad Williams and Dibaji Walker combined for 38 points and 20 rebounds at Detroit Mercy and Millner, Johnson, Williams, Walker and Aleksa Popovic combined for 36 points and 16 rebounds at Oakland. In both games, freshmen accounted for over half of the Vikings points and rebounds.
Appleby is the leading scorer for Cleveland State averaging 16.5 points per game and also tops the team in assists (5.0) and steals (1.5) per game. He currently ranks second in the Horizon League in assists per game.
Williams has turned up the offense and is second on the team averaging 10.6 points per game and is averaging 16.2 points per contest over the last five games. He drilled five three-pointers at Oakland which upped his season total to 66 moving him into a tie for first place with James Madison for the CSU freshman single-season record.
Stefan Kenic is also averaging in double figures for the Vikings at 10.2 points per contest. He is also tied with Millner for second on the team averaging 4.3 rebounds per game.
Green Bay, which is 11-12 on the season and 5-5 in the Horizon League, rallied to defeat Cleveland State 90-89 on Jan. 5 in Green Bay. Sandy Cohen scored 30 points to lead the Phoenix and also scored the game-winning basket at the buzzer.
Appleby scored 27 points to lead the Vikings in the first game against Green Bay, while Williams tallied 15 points and Algevon Eichelberger added 10 points and three rebounds.
