Jan. 7, 2010

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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Norris Cole scored a game-high 20 points, including an old-fashioned three-point play with 38 seconds left that gave the Vikings the lead for good as Cleveland State recorded its second straight league win, a 62-57 decision over Loyola on Thursday night in the Wolstein Center.

The win improved CSU to 6-10 on the year and moved them into fifth place in the league standings with a 2-2 mark. Loyola lost for just the fourth time in 15 games, dropping to 11-4 overall and 2-3 in league play.

"I thought that we worked very hard today," CSU head coach Gary Waters said. "It was a hard fought victory and we dodged a bullet. Even though we were in foul trouble, we were able to come through, especially when it counted.

"This team continues to learn. Tonight, they showed that they now know what to do late in a close game because this one could easily have gone the other direction if we didn't step up and make the big plays. We know that you have to execute, make free throws, take care of the basketball and defend. With every game, we are getting better at doing all of that," Waters added.

The Vikings did just that, committing a season low eight turnovers, only one of which came in the second half, shot .833 from the line down the stretch (5-6) and out-scored the Ramblers 10-2 in the final 1:36.

Andy Polka put the Ramblers ahead, 55-52 with 1:36 left with a basket inside. The Vikings answered quickly as Trey Harmon was left open in the left corner for a three-pointer that tied the game at 55-55 with 1:16 left.

CSU pressed and Loyola's Terrance Hill was fouled by Cole, but missed the free throw with 58 seconds left. The Vikings took the lead for good when Jeremy Montgomery, who scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half, passed up an open three from the left wing, feeding Cole as he cut to the basket. Cole elevated, switched hands and laid the ball in as he was fouled by Hill. Cole connected on the free throw to put CSU ahead, 58-55, with 39 seconds left.

The Viking defense took it from there as Montgomery stole the ball from Walt Gibler at the top of the key and was promptly fouled, making one of two free throws to push the lead to 60-55.

Loyola answered with a basket inside by Jordan Hicks with 17 seconds left to close to 60-57 and Montgomery, a 90-percent foul shooter, missed the front end of a one-and-one with 10 seconds left.

The Ramblers had one more chance, but Courtney Stanley was called for palming the ball as he raced up court with five seconds left. Following a timeout, CSU struggled to get the ball inbounds, until Montgomery, who was in-bounding the ball, threw the ball off the hip of a Loyola player and regained possession. He was fouled again, knocking down both free throws with three seconds left to put the game away.

Cole went eight-for-15 from the floor with three treys to record his sixth 20-point game of the season. He now has 923 points in his career.

Montgomery, a native of Chicago, was strong down the stretch, scoring nine points in the final 8:28 to finish in double figures for the fifth straight game.

D'Aundray Brown was the key man inside for the Vikings, going six-for-nine from the field for 13 points with seven rebounds. He is averaging 9.3 rebounds and 5.0 offensive rebounds over his last four games.

Hill was the lone Loyola starter to score in double figures with 13 points, but the Ramblers had a 33-4 edge in bench points with Gibler scoring 13 points and Aric Van Weelden adding 11 points.

The CSU defense forced 17 Loyola turnovers, making six steals, while turning the ball over a season-low eight times. To make up for it, Loyola had a dominating 38-24 lead on the boards, limiting CSU to just four offensive rebounds.

The game started out tight as CSU opened a 9-3 lead (16:03) but Loyola came right back to take the lead, part of a first half that had two ties and eight lead changes with CSU leading, 27-24 at the break.

The Vikings used strong three-point shooting to start the second half to open up a 45-32 lead with 14:42 left, but center Aaron Pogue and Harmon each went to the bench with four fouls, allowing Loyola to run off 13 straight points, most coming on baskets in the lane, to tie the game at 45-45 with 10:23 left.

"We felt that we could beat Loyola coming into the game and when we had a 13-point lead, we should have continued and extended it, but we started to make fouls and got into foul trouble and it threw us out of sync for awhile," Waters said.

The Vikings refused to give up the lead, breaking a 50-50 tie when Cole scored on a dunk in transition with 4:52 left. Loyola countered with a trey from Van Weelden and a basket inside by Andy Polka to take a 55-52 lead with 1:36 left, setting up CSU's heroics down the stretch.

The Vikings have little time to celebrate, hosting UIC on Saturday (Jan. 9) beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the Wolstein Center.