Cleveland, OH-The Cleveland State Men's Basketball team won its third straight game, and sixth in the past seven outings, on Sunday afternoon defeating IUPUI by a final score of 78-72. 

With the victory Cleveland State improves to 9-3 in the Horizon League and sits in a four-way tie for first place in the league standings. Youngstown State, Milwaukee, and Northern Kentucky are the others at 9-3. The Vikings are 14-9 overall. The loss drops IUPUI to 0-12 in the league, and 3-20 overall. 

The Vikings once again used a balanced offensive attack to down the Jaguars for the second time this season, and the eighth straight time in the overall series. Cleveland State led wire-to-wire and improved its home record to 8-3. The game was played before a crowd of 1,738 at the Wolstein Center. 

Tae Williams and Drew Lowder led the way for the Vikings with 15 points each. Williams was an efficient 7-11 from the floor, and also added eight rebounds, two assists and two steals. Lowder finished 6-14 from the field and had three assists and four rebounds. This was the fourth time in five games that Wiliams has scored in double figures. Lowder continued a run of three consecutive games, and five of the last six, in double figures. 

Tristan Enaruna was close behind with 14 points and Deshon Parker added 13. Enaruna finished six of eight from the field and hit two of his three free throw attempts. Parker finished in double figures for the third time in the last four games. 

The Vikings finished with 21 assists in the game, which is a season best. Deante Johnson finished with a career-high nine assists, along with five rebounds and a blocked shot. 

Cleveland State started fast, scoring the first bucket on a Williams dunk 35 seconds into the game and holding the lead throughout. The Viking lead got as high as 16 points in the first half, and CSU led 47-32 at the break. 

Cleveland State again got off to a good start in the second half and grew the lead to as high as 20 points in the early going. IUPUI responded, trimming the deficit back to single digits with a little over four minutes left to play. 

The Jaguars briefly cut it to one possession on a three-pointer by Boston Stanton III with three minutes to go. But IUPUI could not draw closer than three points, as Cleveland State got timely buckets on the other end to hold off the comeback attempt. 

Cleveland State hits the road next week, as the Vikings head to Detroit Mercy on Thursday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Titans' Calihan Hall.