Cleveland, OH-In front of a national television audience on ESPNU, the Cleveland State Men's Basketball team authored one of its most complete performances of the season in defeating Wright State 85-68 on Friday night. The Vikings moved to 12-5 in league play, and into a three-way tie for second place in the league standings.
Four players finished in double figures for CSU, led by Tristan Enaruna with 20 points. Enaruna finished 10-16 from the field and notched his fourth double-double of the season with 11 rebounds. Enaruna has scored in double figures in 15 consecutive games.
Yahel Hill had a big night, scoring 17 points on an efficient 6-8 shooting from the field. Hill connected on two of his three three-point attempts and finished three of four from the free throw line.
Drew Lowder was close behind with 16 points. Lowder finished in double figures for the eighth time in nine games and shot 50 percent from the floor in the contest. He also added four assists, three rebounds and three steals.
Tae Williams rounded out the Viking contingent in double figures with 13 points. Williams finished 6-10 from the field and fell a rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards.
The Vikings dominated the glass, outrebounding Wright State by a 46-28 margin for the game. CSU also dominated in the paint, winning 50-24, and in bench scoring, 26-16.
Cleveland State rode the momentum of the crowd of 2,909, the largest crowd of the season at the Wolstein Center, to an early double-digit lead. The Vikings jumped out to a 13-3 advantage on a Williams layup at the 15:42 mark.
Wright State answered back with a run of its own, going on an 11-2 spurt to cut the deficit to one at 15-14. The Raiders would take the lead a short time later, and after a fast-break three ball from Andrew Wellage pushed WSU in front by five, Daniyal Robinson used a timeout to settle his team down at the 9:02 mark of the first half.
Cleveland State responded with a 13-0 run over the next three minutes and change to re-take an eight-point advantage. It was 31-23 Cleveland State with 5:43 to go in the first half.
Cleveland State held the lead going into the halftime locker room. The Vikings led 41-36 after the first 20 minutes.
The second half started out as a back-and-forth battle, until the Vikings put their foot on the gas pedal and pulled away. A Lowder three at the 7:41 mark pushed the lead back to double digits, and it stayed there the rest of the way.
The lead grew as large as 23 points down the stretch, as the Vikings used turnovers and fast break opportunities to put the game away late.
Cleveland State will see the other two teams in the three-way tie for second in the final three regular season games. The Vikings will play host to Northern Kentucky for Senior Day on Sunday afternoon (3 p.m.). Milwaukee is the other team tied for second, and Cleveland State will close the regular season against the Panthers next Saturday, February 25th.
Fans can purchase tickets for Sunday's game by clicking HERE.
