Jan. 5, 2006

Final Stats |  Quotes |  Notes

Contact: Brian McCann

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Uninspired. That's the only word that Viking head coach Mike Garland could come up with to describe CSU's performance in a 58-55 loss to Wright State on Thursday night in the Wolstein Center.

Returning home from a narrow 75-68 loss at defending Horizon League champion UW-Milwaukee on Monday, Garland expected that the Vikings would be ready to square off with Wright State, a team that CSU had two of its most-heated battles against last season.

Instead, CSU came out and played in spurts, ultimately digging a hole for themselves early in the second half that they were never fully able to get out of.

"We put a good team full of talented players out on the floor tonight and I expected a lot more out of them," Garland told the media after the game. "I have come in on countless occasions over the last three years and accepted the blame for a loss. Not tonight. I am putting this one on our players. They let this one get away."

The Viking offense sputtered for most of the night as CSU shot just .377 from the field (20-53), marking the third time this year - and first in 10 games - that the Vikings shot under 40-percent for a game. Cleveland State was out-rebounded 38-25.

Raheem Moss led CSU with 18 points, 12 of which came on four-three-pointers, while Frashon McGee came off the bench to add a career-high 14 points. McGee made all four field goals, including a pair of three-pointers, and all four free throws while adding a team-high seven rebounds with two steals and a block.

"Frashon is the ultimate team player and he played real hard tonight," Garland said.

DaShaun Wood led three Wright State players in double figures with 12 points, 10 rebounds and six assists while Drew Burleson added 11 points and Jordan Pleiman chipped in with 10.

"We held them to under 60 points and only 46 shots on offense," Garland said. "Those are numbers good enough to come away with a win."

After fighting back time-after-time in the first half to trail by only one, 30-29 at the break, CSU played poorly in the opening minutes of the second half as Wright State ran off the first 11 points of the second half to pull away for good. Wood sparked the drive, having a hand in every point, scoring five points of his own and assisting on the three other baskets.

CSU would not come any closer than four points until the final minute, when Moss connected on a three-pointer to pull the Vikings to within 57-55 with 41 second left. Jaron Taylor missed the front end of a one-and-one with 34 seconds left but Moss came up short on a field goal with 20 seconds left.

CSU had two more chances to tie the game following Wright State missed free throws, but three-pointers by Moss and Victor Morris were off the mark.

"We had some great opportunities out there tonight," Garland added. "As poorly as we played, we could have still come away with the win in the final minute if a shot or two went our way. Wright State certainly opened the door for us. We just didn't walk through."

The Vikings seemed to chase the Raiders the entire game.

After tying the game at 2-2 on a Patrick Tatham basket inside with 18:44 left, the Vikings were on the wrong end of an 11-0 run the gave Wright State a comfortable, 13-2 lead with 13:22 left.

Four different Raiders scored baskets during the stretch, including five points from Burleson.

As they have done all season, CSU fought back, running off 13 of the next 14 points to take a slim 15-14 lead at the 9:58 mark. The majority of the run came from the perimeter as Moss connected on back-to-back three-pointers in transition and McGee canned a long-range jumper - his second three-pointer of the year - to put the Vikings ahead.

Scottie Wilson answered with a three-pointer from the right side to put the Raiders back ahead and Wright State would eventually rebuild their advantage to as a many as seven (28-21 with 3:56 left).

Ije Nwanwko led another CSU comeback, scoring five points during a 6-0 Viking spurt to bring the Vikings within one (28-27) with Wright State eventually taking a 30-29 lead into the locker room.

The Vikings will have an entire week off before resuming Horizon League play at home against Detroit next Thursday, Jan. 12 beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the Wolstein Center, a game that starts a stretch of five games in 10 days.