Vikings Knock Off Youngstown State, 58-54, to Win 20th

Posted: Feb 18, 2009

Feb. 18, 2009

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CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cleveland State scored the first 10 points of the game and held off a second half rally by Youngstown State as the Vikings claimed their 20th win of the season, 58-54, over the Penguins on Wednesday night in the Wolstein Center.

This is the seventh time the Vikings have won 20 games in a season and the first back-to-back 20 win campaigns since CSU won 20 in four straight seasons from 1984-85 to 1987-88. It was also the Vikings seventh straight win, the most since CSU won a school-record 14 straight in 1992-93.

"The 20 wins means that the program is moving forward and there is a change of guards," head coach Gary Waters said. "It shows there is a form of consistency in the program, but we have to maintain that.

"I was a little disappointed in that game," head coach Gary Waters said. "We played to hard for the game to be that tight. Everytime we play this team, we don't do what we do. We turn the ball over too much. We miss some free throws. We just don't take ahold of the game.

"We had a good start, just like we have for the last four games, but it hasn't ended well because the team has come back and made a surge on us."

Cedric Jackson led the Vikings with 18 points, a career-high seven steals, five rebounds and four assists. He moved into third place on the CSU single-season steals list with 88 this year, moving past Ken McFadden (83 in 1986-87) and himself (88 in 2007-08). He also has 176 steals, eighth on the all-time list at CSU.

"Cedric is phenomenal when it comes to defense. He gets his hands on so many balls," Waters said.

J'Nathan Bullock added 17 points and seven rebounds, raising his career rebound total to 750 and in the process, becoming the first player in school history with 1,500 career points and 750 rebounds.

George Tandy added 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocks, while Norris Cole chipped in seven points.

The win improved CSU to 12-2 at home this season, tying the Wolstein Center record for wins in a season, originally set last year.

The Vikings scored the first 10 points of the game, part of a 15-2 run to open the game over the first five minutes. The spurt was highlighted by breakaway dunks from Bullock and Jackson, as well as three-pointers by Cole and Bullock.

"When we start that well, we can have our defense be the controller," Waters said. "I wanted to put fear in their hearts with our defense and I think we accomplished that."

The lead would grow to as many as 14 points (22-8: 9:22) and YSU would close to within nine points once, 24-15, with 6:31 to play.

CSU led at the half, 34-23.

A Chris Moore jumper and Jackson free throw shot opened the second half scoring as the lead swelled up to 37-23 with 18:12 left.

However, the Penguins used a 6-0 spurt to slice the lead to 37-29 with 16:08 to play and force a CSU timeout.

Tandy followed with a jumper out of the timeout to bring the lead back to 10 points (39-29) and the lead was 13 (51-38) with 6:25 left.

But once again, YSU mounted a comeback, using a 13-5 run over the next six minutes to pull within three points (56-63) with 50 seconds to play on a Jack Liles layup. He was fouled on the play, but missed the free throw.

On the ensuing possession, YSU forced a jumpball and Vytas Sulskis split a pair of free throws after a technical foul on the CSU bench. With the ball and a chance to tie or take the lead, Kelvin Bright missed a jumper in the lane and Tandy tapped the ball out to D'Aundray Brown who fed it ahead to Jackson for a breakaway layup at the buzzer.

Sulskis led the Penguins with 14 points and seven rebounds.

The Vikings shot .375 (21-56) from the field, committing just 12 turnovers and forcing 17 YSU miscues. The Vikings also made a season-high 15 steals.

YSU hit .435 (20-46) from the floor, marking the second time in 10 games this year that CSU won a game despite being out-shot.

The Vikings will take a break from its Horizon League schedule when CSU travels to Wichita State for a 2:00 p.m. CST contest on Saturday, Feb. 21.