CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cleveland State men's basketball team closed out the month of January Sunday afternoon, dropping a 78-72 contest at Northern Kentucky. With the loss, the Vikings fall to 14-5 overall this year and 10-2 in Horizon League play.

Game Stats
· Three Vikings finished the game in double-figures, led by D'Moi Hodge with 20. Torrey Patton and Tre Gomillion both added 10 points.
· Torrey Patton grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, while Tre Gomillion recorded five boards.
· As a team, the Vikings posted 19 assists, including six from Tre Gomillion and three from Torrey Patton.
· Cleveland State shot 50-percent from the floor on the game, including a .536 clip during the first half.
· Tre Gomillion led the Vikings with three steals on the game.

Game Notes
· With his 20 points, D'Moi Hodge has now tallied 10+ points in all but three games this season.
· After posting six assists against NKU, Tre Gomillion has tallied three or more assists in 10 games this season.
· This marked the fifth straight game that the Vikings shot .450 or better from the field.  
· Cleveland State held a 46-22 advantage in points in the paint and a 20-7 edge in fast break points on the day.

The Game
After taking a 36-30 lead into the second half, the Vikings were able to add to their lead on the first possession of the second frame, as a D'Moi Hodge layup put the Vikings up 38-30 just 20 seconds into the half.

The two teams then traded baskets until three straight layups from Torrey Patton, Hodge and Deshon Parker gave the Vikings a double-digit lead at the 48-35 mark with just under 16 minutes left on the clock. The Vikings were then able to hold a double-digit advantage over the next few minutes, until a pair of NKU three-pointers closed the gap to 53-45 with 11:35 left to play.

Although a Yahel Hill jumper stopped the NKU run, the Norse responded with a 9-4 run that closed the gap to 59-54 and forced a CSU timeout.

NKU then came out of the timeout with nine straight points, erasing the CSU lead and giving the Norse a 63-59 advantage with 5:02 left on the clock.

A Hodge three-pointer at the 4:33 mark brought the Vikings within one point at 63-62, but a pair of NKU free throws extended the Norse lead to 65-62 on their next possession.

Hodge was once again able to trim the lead to just one point two minutes later, as another three-pointer put the score at 68-67 NKU with 2:18 left on the clock.

This would be as close as the Vikings would get though, as NKU ended the game on a 10-5 run, pulling away with the 78-72 victory.

Up Next
Cleveland State will return to the Wolstein Center to begin its final four-game homestand of the regular season next week, beginning with a 7:00 p.m. contest against Green Bay on Friday, February 4.