Feb. 10, 2005
INDIANAPOLIS - Cleveland State ended a 31-year, 10 game winless streak to Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Thursday night, upending the Bulldogs 65-56. The Vikings (9-11, 6-6 Horizon League) move to a fourth-place tie with Detroit while Butler stands in eighth at 9-13 on the year and 4-8 in conference play.
Butler jumped out to a seven point lead at 18-11 on a lay-up by A.J. Graves at 10:41, but CSU would use an 8-0 run to take their first lead at 19-18 with 8:42 remaining. The advantage would be short-lived, however, as Butler would respond with a 7-0 run of its own to push the lead to 25-19 with 4:56 left.
The Bulldogs extended the lead to 29-22 after Brandon Polk hit a jumper with 2:36 left in the half. Sophomore forward Patrick Tatham would respond, however, hitting a three-pointer from the top of the key to bring CSU within four. Butler's Gary Patterson answered with a three of his own moments later, but Tatham came back with a near carbon copy triple to send the Vikings into the locker room trailing by four at 32-28.
Graves would hit a three pointer 15 seconds into the second half to push the Butler advantage back to seven, but the lead would get no larger as CSU would take a 38-37 lead on a Walt Chavis jumper at 15:20 and take the lead for good with under five minutes left on back-to-back lay-ups by Justin Henderson and Omari Westley.
"Today's game shows what a little confidence will do for you," head coach Mike Garland said. "Early in the year, we played all those road games, but we didn't know how to win the close games. After playing at home the last two weeks, we came here today with confidence, and it showed.
"Last year, we lost closer games. Tonight, we not only came back to take the lead, but we pulled away for the win."
After shooting 48 percent (12-of-25) from the field in the opening stanza, the Bulldogs would go cold in the second, hitting only 29 percent (7-of-24) from the field and 14 percent (2-of-14) for three.
The Vikings would start out shooting 1-of-5 from the free throw line in the first half, but go 9-of-11 from the stripe in the second, hitting their last eight of the game to seal the win.
Westley paced all players with 21 points (8-of-12) and nine rebounds, coming one board short of his eighth double-double of the year. Tatham recorded career-highs with 20 points and two three-pointers, while Raheem Moss joined the pair in double-figures with 12.
Westley, who was suffering from the flu, was forced to leave the game with a minute remaining in the first half due to the illness. The Cleveland native would return in the second half, however, scoring 11 points and pulling in five boards.
Polk led the Bulldogs with 13 points, while Graves added 10. Brandon Crone chipped in nine points and pulled in a team-best eight boards.
The Vikings had never won at Hinkle Fieldhouse, dropping all 10 contests played at the arena dating back to an 80-75 loss in 1974. The teams would not face each other again in Indianapolis until 1996, with Butler reeling off nine straight wins since.
CSU returns to the Wolstein Center on Saturday (Feb. 12) as the Vikings take on UIC (11-10, 6-5 HL) in a battle for third place. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. following the Cleveland State women's game against UW-Milwaukee.
