Jan. 13, 2006
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes
Contact: Brian McCann
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- For the second straight season, Cleveland State needed to overcome a double-digit second-half deficit against Detroit en route to a thrilling 59-53 overtime victory on Thursday evening in the Wolstein Center.
Cleveland State (5-8 overall, 1-3 Horizon) trailed 44-32 with 7:21 left before coming back to topple the Titans (9-9 overall, 3-2 Horizon) and in the process, snap a three-game losing streak and claim its first league victory of the year.
"We needed that win," head coach Mike Garland said. "It is a very big win for not only this team, but the program as well.
"We won a game despite shooting only 34-percent from the field. That says a lot about our defense because our blue-collar, backyard style of play is what kept us in the game."
The win bore striking resemblances to the Vikings' 24-point comeback victory over the Titans last January, the largest deficit overcome in school history.
Things didn't look good for CSU when Ben Green's three-pointer put the Titans up a dozen late in the second half. But like a year ago, the Viking offense came to life and the defense made key stop after key stop to pull CSU back into the game.
J'Nathan Bullock started the run with a basket inside and Raheem Moss followed with a pair of free throws after being fouled going to the basket.
Sophomore Steve Gansey, who had sat out the last two games because of tendonitis in his knee, ignited the rally by making back-to-back three-pointers to allow the Vikings to close to 44-42 with 4:30 left. Gansey, who was three-of-five from three-point while scoring a season-high 12 points, had made just seven of his 35 three-point attempts this season.
Ije Nwankwo, a native of Ann Arbor, Mich., finished the comeback with a pair of free throws with 3:27 left to tie the game at 44-44. Nwankwo scored a game-high 15 points with six rebounds.
Detroit's Chuck Bailey scored back-to-back baskets to end the rally, the second coming on an emphatic dunk with 1:51 left to put the Titans ahead, 48-44.
That would be the final points of regulation for Detroit as a basket inside by Nwankwo and a lay-up by Bullock would tie the game at 48-48 with 40 seconds left, setting up a bizarre end to regulation.
The Titans had what should have been the last possession, but Zach Everingham turned the ball over with 12 seconds left. With Detroit pressuring the ensuing Viking inbounds from underneath the Detroit basket, Ben Green stole Patrick Tatham's inbounds pass but lost his balance.
Green fell to the floor after making the theft, promptly calling a timeout to save the possession, but the Titans did not have any timeouts left, earning Detroit what should have been a game-deciding technical foul.
But Carlos English, who was 17-for-18 from the line for the year, promptly missed both technical foul shots with 10.2 seconds left to give the ball back to Detroit.
Detroit worked the ball for the final shot, but Bailey's pass down low was off the mark and went out of bounds with two seconds left, sending the game to overtime.
"We told Carlos not to worry about those two free throws because we were going to win this game," Steve Gansey said. "We weren't letting this one get away from us."
And Gansey's words rang true as the overtime was all Cleveland State.
Bailey put the Titans ahead, 50-48 with a basket just 16 seconds into the extra session, but back-to-back buckets by Bullock and Nwankwo put CSU ahead for good. Detroit, which had shot .477 in regulation (21-44) could make just one of its seven shots in OT.
Frashon McGee, who paced CSU with eight rebounds, scored his lone basket of the night following an offensive board and Bullock added a pair of free throws to give CSU a 56-51 lead with 1:04 left. Detroit would not seriously threaten the rest of the way.
The Vikings finished the affair shooting 34-percent from the field (18-53) while Detroit connected on better than 43 percent (22-51) of its attempts. Rebounding was decidedly in CSU's favor as the Green and White out-rebounded the Titans by a count of 41-33, including 17-12 on the offensive glass, marking only the fourth time in 13 games this year that CSU had a rebounding advantage.
The key to the come-from-behind victory may have been turnovers as the Vikings forced 21 UDM turnovers, with all but seven coming in the second half.
"Patrick Tatham deserves a lot of credit for his defensive effort against Jon Goode tonight," Garland said. "He did a great job a pressuring him around the perimeter and taking the shots that Goode normally gets away. I have said it on more than one occasion but it rang true again tonight. Patrick is one of the top defensive players in the Horizon League."
Defense dominated the first 20 minutes as the two teams combined to shoot just .294 from the field (15-51), including one-for-11 from three-point (.091). The Vikings struggled to counteract the multiple Titan zone defenses, going five-for-24 from the field (.208).
CSU jumped out to a quick 702 advantage with 17:10 left as English and Nwankwo combined to score the first seven Viking points, English's coming on a field goal and a pair of free throws while Nwankwo made three-of-four from the line.
The lead changed hands a total of seven times during the first 20 minutes, the last coming when Detroit ran off the final six points of the stanza to take a 22-17 lead into the locker room.
After trading baskets to begin the second half, Steve Gansey brought the Vikings to within one, 28-27, as he nailed a triple with 12:51 remaining in regulation.
The momentum soon swung back in Detroit's favor as the Titans went on a 13-3 run over the next 4:43 in large part on the strength of a trio of three pointers, including a pair from Jon Goode.
Up next for the Vikings is a date with Youngstown State on Saturday afternoon. Game time at the Beeghley Center is slated for 7:35 p.m.
