Jan. 24, 2008
Contact: Brian McCann
GREEN BAY, Wisc. -- Terry Evans scored 16 points and the Phoenix outscored the Vikings 20-11 at the foul line as Cleveland State saw its six-game win streak come to an end, falling 59-50 at Green Bay on Thursday night in the Resch Center.
The loss, CSU's first in eight league games, drops the Vikings to 14-6 overall and 7-1 in league play, one-half game ahead of Butler (7-2) and a game-and-a-half of Saturday's opponent, Milwaukee (6-3).
"We lost tonight's game because we didn't continue to do the things that allowed us to win our first seven league games," CSU head coach Gary Waters said. "We didn't make open shots, rebound the basketball or make our free throws, each of which is important for this team to be successful.
"We played well enough defensively to win tonight but we didn't take care of things at the other end of the court. That's why it is so hard to win on the road in this league."
With the weather outside hovering near zero, the Viking offense scrambled to find some heat of its own, shooting a season-low .283 from the field (17-60). Fortunately for CSU, Green Bay wasn't much better, connecting on just 18 of its 53 field goal attempts (.340), including a three-for-14 effort from three-point (.214).
With George Tandy and Breyohn Watson playing shutdown defense on Mike Schachtner and Ryan Tillema, the Vikings nearly shutdown the Phoenix attack until late in the game. The Green Bay duo entered the contest averaging 30.1 points between them but could manage just 15 points on three-for-12 shooting from the field. Tillema finished with 10 points while Schachtner was held to a season-low five points.
"We went into the game with the goal of shutting those two down," Waters said. "Give credit to Breyohn and George because they really put the effort in defensively."
Green Bay was forced to go to other players as Evans matched his season-high with 16 points and Rahmon Fletcher and Tevah Morris added 11 points each.
Cedric Jackson was the only Viking in double figures, finishing with 19 points while turning in his best offensive effort of the league season. He was six-for-12 from the field, making all four of his three-point attempts, adding seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.
J'Nathan Bullock struggled offensively, going three-for-16 from the field en route to scoring a season-low six points. He did however grab a game-high 10 rebounds and made a pair of steals.
The Vikings were out-rebounded, 45-40, marking just the fourth time this season that they finished with less rebounds than their opponents.
The Vikings appeared headed to their eighth straight league win when they opened up a quick 10-4 lead in the game. CSU would trail 13-12 at the 6:57 mark but bounced back to lead by as many as seven in the first half (24-17) before taking a 24-19 advantage into the locker room.
CSU would push the lead to eight (28-20) just two minutes into the second half, but the Phoenix ran off 11 of the next 13 points to take a 31-30 lead with 12:33 left.
The lead volleyballed back and forth several times until Chris Moore scored on a three-point play with 6:01 left to give CSU a 42-41 lead. It would be the last field goal of the night for the Vikings as CSU missed its final five shots from the field.
Evans gave Green Bay the lead for good (47-45) on a three-pointer from the right corner with 3:46 left. CSU would hang close, but five-for-10 shooting from the line down the stretch allowed the Phoenix to gradually pull away.
Cleveland State has little time to rebound, continuing this four-game road swing on Saturday (Jan. 26) with a 7:05 CST contest at Milwaukee.
