Feb. 5, 2005
Contact: Brian McCann
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Not to steal from a classic, but it truly was the best of times and the worst of times for the Viking men's basketball team on Saturday night in the Wolstein Center.
Fortunately, the worst of times came first, allowing CSU the time to make one of the most historic comebacks in program history, rallying from 24 points down just seconds into the second half to claim a 69-62 victory over Detroit and move into a fourth place tie in the Horizon League standings.
Omari Westley led the way with 20 points while Raheem Moss added 19, including 15 in the second half. Brandon Cotton paced Detroit with 17 points.
It was the boldest statement yet regarding how far the Cleveland State men's basketball team has come in just one season.
"This was a team win," head coach Mike Garland said. "I can't single out one guy because everybody on the team played a role in the win tonight. We got plays from everybody and that's what this whole thing is about.
"Even though we were down by 21 at half, we weren't panicked. We knew that if we picked up our defensive intensity and played every possession hard, that we could come back. We just needed to play it one possession at a time."
Viking fans had seen this before. Poor shooting couple with a hot opponent had put CSU down 44-23 at the half, the Vikings largest halftime deficit of the season. To make matters worse, Detroit's James Thues connected on a three-pointer just 16 seconds into the second half to put Detroit ahead, 47-23.
All that was left for the Vikings to do was play out the string and get ready for next Thursday night's game at Butler.
But unlike the ghosts of basketball games past, the ones that Garland and his staff have worked hard to exorcise over the last year-and-a-half, the Vikings had an answer.
By turning up the defensive intensity and continuing to run the offense, Cleveland State stormed back.
Trailing 51-28 with 18:01 left, CSU ran off 13 straight points to close to 51-41 with 13:24 left. Moss scored seven points during the run, including a pair of three-pointers.
Cotton answered for Detroit, scoring two straight baskets to rebuild the lead to 55-41 with 12:17 left.
The Titans would not score again for almost eight minutes as the Vikings ran off 15 straight points to take a 56-55 lead with 7:10 remaining.
The run was a team effort as Mike Redell, Victor Morris and Steve Gansey each hit three-pointers while Westley scored four points and Moss two.
Detroit answered again, ending their scoring drought with a Ryvon Covile layup to take 57-56 lead. Covile would score again at the 3:31 mark to put the Titans ahead, 61-60.
But the Vikings fought back again, with Redell giving CSU the lead for good (63-61) on a three-pointer with 3:08 left.
The CSU defense took over down the stretch, limiting Detroit to just one-point in the final three minutes to pull away for the victory.
The game was a tale of two halves as CSU was just seven-of-21 from the field in the first half (.333), including just one-of-nine from three-point (.111). The Vikings were on fire after the intermission, shooting .632 from the field (12-19), making eight of their nine treys.
It was the opposite for Detroit as the Titans shot .643 in the first half (18-28) but could make only eight of their 28 second half shots (.286).
The win marked the largest comeback in CSU history. The Vikings had previously come back from a 5-point halftime deficit to defeat Northern Illinois, 71-55 on Feb. 1, 1992.
The win improved CSU to 8-11 on the season, doubling the team's win total from the 2003-04 season, while moving the Vikings into a fourth place tie in the Horizon League standings.
CSU continues league play at Butler on Thursday (Feb. 10) before returning home to host UIC next Saturday (Feb. 12).
