Feb. 1, 2007

Final Stats |  Quotes |  Notes

Contact: Brian McCann

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cleveland State rallied from 16 down and held Loyola to 23 percent shooting in the second half but fell short in the final minutes, 61-57, Thursday night at the Wolstein Center.

Loyola's J.R. Blount led all scorers with 27 points, including 18 in the first half, on 7-of-13 shooting and four three-pointers.

Freshman Joe Davis and sophomore Renard Field each scored 12 points to lead CSU while sophomore Bahaadar Russell added 11.

Field also posted career-high totals in rebounds (16), blocks (5) and steals (2).

Cleveland State rallied back from a double-digit deficit in the first half and had the ball down a bucket at 57-55. Russell missed a deep three-pointer that would have given CSU its first lead of the game with 0:32 left and Loyola iced the game with four free throws down the stretch.

"Our kids played hard...I really thought they played hard," head coach Gary Waters said. "But we didn't make good decisions down the stretch."

Down by 16 at the half, the Vikings drained four treys, including two by Russell, over a 1:40 stretch to pull within 42-37. A free throw by Moss made it 42-38 with 15:38 left.

Cleveland State pulled to within three on a free throw by senior Patrick Tatham and had multiple chances to pull closer or tie, but the Ramblers maintained their slight lead as neither team could manage any offense. Loyola scored just 10 points in the first 13:19 of the second half.

"I thought we played great defense over the first 10 minutes of the second half," Waters said. "We held them to something like 10 percent (field goal shooting) over a long stretch. That's how we got back into the game."

The Vikings pulled to within 45-43 on a lay-up by Fields at the 7:29 mark and tied the game at 45 on two free throws by Bullock on the next possession.

Loyola fought back to take a 53-47 lead on a jumper from the top of the key by Schilb with 4:12 left but Cleveland State answered to tie the game at 53 on a trey by Russell at the 2:48 mark. Blount was fouled on a three-point attempt on the ensuing possession and made all three free throws and then hit another free throw at the 1:28 mark to put Loyola up, 57-53.

Loyola did not waste time taking an early lead, scoring seven points in its first three possessions, highlighted by a trey by Schilb.

The lead was extended to 19-7 on a three by Blount at the 13:20 mark. A bucket in the lane by Morris stopped the run and the Vikings would pull within 24-17 on a driving lay-up by Moss with 5:36 remaining. Blount answered with five straight points and Schilb hit a lay-up to give Loyola a 31-19 lead with 3:23 left in the first half.

The Ramblers, who shot 47 percent in the first half, would add a lay-up by Schilb, a break-away dunk by Kou and two Leon Young free throws to take a 37-21 lead at halftime.

The Vikings shot 30 percent on the night and 6-of-24 from three-point range, including 5-of-12 in the second half. Loyola shot 36 percent for the game.

Cleveland State collected 19 offensive rebounds and committed just 10 turnovers.

The Vikings host UW-Green Bay on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. The contest will follow the CSU women's basketball game against UIC.