GREEN BAY, Wisc. - Saturday night's game at Green Bay was just another saga in this year's season for Cleveland State. Once again, the Vikings jump out to a big lead. And once again, CSU has it slip away, falling 65-53 to the Phoenix at the Resch Center. The loss sends CSU to 6-11 and 0-4 in Horizon League play, while UW-Green Bay improves to 9-7 and 1-2.

Cleveland State managed just nine points in the second half on shooting 3-for-20, including 0-for-7 from three-point range. The Vikings, who took care of the ball in the first half to the tune of four turnovers, committed 10 miscues in the second stanza.

"For us to play that well and that hard in the first half and lose is a travesty to our program," head coach Gary Waters said. "Green Bay didn't change much in the second half. They just pressured us and we didn't respond to the challenge."

After being severely outplayed in the first half by Cleveland State, UW-Green Bay opened the second half with 13 straight points to tie the game at 44 on a Josh Lawrence putback at the 13:51 mark.

Neither team scored for the next 5:12 until sophomore J'Nathan Bullock notched a three-point play to put CSU on top, 46-44 with 8:39 left. The Phoenix answered with two straight dunks to take a 48-47 lead that it would never relinquish.

Green Bay's Mike Schachtner scored all of the points in a 7-1 run to put UWGB 57-50 with 2:42 left. Green Bay picked apart the CSU defense for a pair of lay-ups and hit all four of its free throws to preserve the win down the stretch.

"I have to hand it to Green Bay," Waters said. "They played well in the second half."

Schachtner led all scorers with 31 points on 11-of-17 shooting. Lawrence scored 13 and Ryan Evanochko added 8 for the hosts. Schachtner and Evanochko each made 6-of-6 add the free throw line and Lawrence grabbed 10 rebounds.

Bullock led the Vikings with 19 points and five rebounds. Senior Raheem Moss scored 12, all of them in the first half.

The Phoenix made 16 of its 20 free throws and held a 33-21 rebounding edge. CSU shot just eight free throws the entire night, making six.

The first half was all Vikings. Leading 10-8, CSU went on an 8-2 run keyed by Bullock to jump ahead 18-10. CSU made seven of its first 10 from the floor.

Cleveland State extended its lead to 27-16 at the 8:34 mark on a three-pointer by English. Another trey, this time by Bullock made it 30-18 with 7:12 remaining.

The Phoenix pulled within 37-31 on a trey by Ryan Tillema at the 2:17 mark, but CSU answered with a 7-0 run keyed by four points by English and a three-pointer by Breyohn Watson to close the first half with a 44-31 lead.

CSU shot 65 percent in the first half, including 7-of-11 from beyond the arc. Bullock put up 15 points in the first half on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting.

The Vikings are back in action on Thursday, Jan. 11 against defending league champion UW-Milwaukee, starting at 7:00 p.m. at the Wolstein Center.

The first half was all Vikings. Leading 10-8, CSU went on an 8-2 run keyed by Bullock to jump ahead 18-10. CSU made seven of its first 10 from the floor.

Cleveland State extended its lead to 27-16 at the 8:34 mark on a three-pointer by English. Another trey, this time by Bullock made it 30-18 with 7:12 remaining.

The Phoenix pulled within 37-31 on a trey by Ryan Tillema at the 2:17 mark, but CSU answered with a 7-0 run keyed by four points by English and a three-pointer by Breyohn Watson to close the first half with a 44-31 lead.

CSU shot 65 percent in the first half, including 7-of-11 from beyond the arc. Bullock put up 15 points in the first half on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting.

The Vikings are back in action on Thursday, Jan. 11 against defending league champion UW-Milwaukee, starting at 7:00 p.m. at the Wolstein Center.