Feb. 11, 2010
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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Norris Cole scored 16 of his game high 22 points in the second half and Cleveland State went 20-for-21 at the line in the second half to allow the Vikings to claim an 80-71 win over Valparaiso on Thursday night in the Wolstein Center.
The victory CSU's sixth straight and ninth in the last 11 games, allowed the Vikings (13-12, 9-4) to hold on to second place in the Horizon League standings, a half-game ahead of both Wright State and Green Bay (9-5), both of which won this evening.
The victory also extended CSU's school record home winning streak against league opponents to 14 games. The Vikings have not lost to a league opponent since dropping a last-second 50-48 decision to Butler on Dec. 4, 2008.
After a less than stellar road trip to Chicago last week, Cole rebounded to tally 22 points, grab seven rebounds and hand out seven assists. He was a perfect eight-for-eight from the foul line in recording the 17th 20-point game of his career.
Trey Harmon added 17 points, 15 coming in the first half, while Jeremy Montgomery chipped in with 15 points. Brandon McPherson led Valpo with 17 points while Brandon Wood added 14 and Michael Rogers 12.
"I thought we dominated them in the first 10 minutes of the second half and that was the difference," CSU head coach Gary Waters said. "We let them back in down the stretch but our guys settled down, took care of the ball and made the most of their shots.
"I thought we played harder than Valpo did tonight. Norris (Cole) did an outstanding job guarding (Brandon) Wood. He held him to just 14 points, most of which came late. He didn't score at all in the first half and probably only got four points against Norris."
After leading 34-30 at the half, the Vikings gradually pulled away in the first 11 minutes of the second half, building a 57-39 advantage with 9:00 remaining.
The Vikings built their lead by attacking the basket, foregoing their normal long-range shooting attack in favor of working the ball towards the basket.
"Our plan was to attack tonight," Waters said. "We didn't want to get caught up in shooting a lot of three's. We were only going to take them if we were really open."
The end result had the Vikings shooting an even 50-percent from the field (26-52) while CSU set season lows for three-point field goals made (4) and attempted (10) with the Vikings going zero-for-two in the second half.
Despite the large Viking advantage, the Crusaders would rally, trimming the CSU lead to 71-67 with 2:38 left.
The Crusaders would not have a chance to come any closer as the Vikings went 12-for-13 from the line in the final five minutes to secure the win.
"One of the good things about playing with a four-guard offense is that all four of those guys make their free throws," Waters said. "That makes us difficult to defend down the stretch because there really isn't anybody to foul on the floor.
The victory avenges a 78-71 CSU loss at Valparaiso in early January and gives CSU a 27-8 all-time lead in the series.
As was the case during CSU's win at Loyola on Saturday (Feb. 4), the Vikings benefited from several strong performances off the bench.
Freshman Charlie Woods, who had scored just 10 points in 14 games this year, set career highs for points (7), rebounds (3), steals (2), blocks (1) and minutes played (14) while freshman Tim Kamczyc matched his career-high with seven points in 22 minutes.
CSU has little time to celebrate the win as the Vikings host 15th-ranked Butler on Saturday (Feb. 13 beginning at 2:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center. The Bulldogs clinched the outright Horizon League crown with a win at Youngstown State on Thursday, improving to 22-4 overall and 15-0 in league play.
