Jan. 13, 2007

Final Stats |  Quotes |  Notes

Contact: Brian McCann

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Sophomore Bahaadar Russell made the most of his starting opportunity. The reserve guard, who had came into Saturday's contest averaging 6.2 minutes per game, hit five three-pointers en route to a team-high 21 points in Cleveland State's 63-61 victory over Detroit at the Wolstein Center. With the win, CSU improves to 7-12 and 1-5 in Horizon League play. Detroit is now 5-11 and 2-3.

Senior Raheem Moss scored 16 points and sophomore J'Nathan Bullock had 10 points and 10 rebounds for his sixth career double-double for Cleveland State.

Brandon Cotton led Detroit with a game-high 27 points on 10-of-19 shooting from the field. Ryvon Covile added 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Titans.

"That was a big win for us because we were at our all-time low," head coach Gary Waters said. "We lost some close games then we lost a couple of our players. We were either going to step up now, or it wasn't going to happen. Sometimes you have to go down to go back up.

"We have been preaching that we have to step through the door when it opens."

CSU took a big lead in the first half on a 19-3 run that covered over seven minutes. With the game tied, 5-5, Russell scored five points to give CSU a 10-5 lead at the 13:44 mark. Bullock added a lay-up and Moss drilled a three to put the Vikings up 10 at 15-5. Detroit's Chris Hayes answered with a trey at the 10:54 mark.

Russell added another jumper before Moss scored five straight points to give Cleveland State a 22-8 lead. A Joe Davis lay-up and a three-pointer by Breyohn Watson would give CSU its largest lead of the game at 27-9 with 6:38 left in the first half.

Keyed by four points by Cotton, the Titans answered with a 7-0 run of their own to pull within 27-16 at the 3:22 mark. Russell closed the half with his fourth and fifth treys, giving Cleveland State a 33-18 halftime lead.

After the intermission, the Vikings took a 37-19 lead on a free throw by Joe Davis with 18:17 play, setting the stage for a big Detroit comeback. The Titans exploded for a 17-3 run that featured seven points by Cotton ot pull to 40-36 at the 12:12 mark. Bullock ended the spurt with a three to put the Vikings back up seven with 11:40 to play.

After three straight points by Covile made it 43-39, Moss hit a trey to put CSU up by seven once again, 46-39. The Titans would answer with a lay-up by Covile and a three-pointer by Cotton to pull within 46-44 at the 9:36 mark.

Russell added another bucket at the 7:03 mark to make it 51-45 before a pair of lay-ups by Cotton pulled Detroit to within two at 51-49.  CSU answered with four straight points of its own to go ahead 55-49.

Clinging to a 56-54 advantage with 2:39 to play, senior Patrick Tatham hit a lay-up and Bullock made two free throws to put CSU ahead 60-56 with 2:00 to go.

After another trip to the free throw line by Bullock, CSU led 61-58 with 31 seconds left. Cotton missed a jumper from the top of the key and Covile missed a pair of tip-ins before Moss came up with the rebound. Detroit quickly fouled Moss, who would calmly drain two free throws with two seconds left to put CSU ahead 63-58.

"Everyone stepped up in the final moments," Waters said. "We did not turn the ball over in the last minutes and we made basically all of our free throws."

Brandon Bell banked in a desperation heave from half court to seal the final score.

Cleveland State made 11-of-21 from beyond the arc, led by five treys by Russell and three by Moss. CSU also tied its season-low with just nine turnovers while making 70 percent (14-of-20) at the free throw line.

The Vikings also held a slight 31-29 rebounding edge and committed just 13 personal fouls.

The Vikings will conclude their three-game homestand against Wright State on Thursday, Jan. 18 against Wright State at 7:00 p.m.