Feb. 23, 2002
CLEVELAND, OH - When it took Cleveland State (12-13, 6-10) more than five minutes to make its first field goal against Wisconsin-Green Bay (7-19, 4-11) on Saturday, it was pretty clear that the rest of the afternoon wasn't going to go well either. In the end, the Phoenix spoiled Senior Day for the Vikings, running away with a 74-66 win.
Trailing 20-8 with 7:17 to go in the first half, the Vikings went on a 6-0 spurt, capped off by senior Jamaal Harris's (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights) reverse layup, to cut the Phoenix lead to 20-14. But poor shooting, coupled with and a flurry of sloppy passes, put the Vikings back in a nine-point hole at 25-16.
A 3-pointer from senior Theo Dixon (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights) put the Vikings down by six, 25-19, heading into halftime.
"We obviously didn't put the ball in the basket like we did on Thursday," said Cleveland State coach Rollie Massimino, referring to the Vikings' sizzling 61 percent from the floor against Milwaukee. "We also have to rebound and get down and play."
Green Bay dominated the boards, 38-21, behind a game-high 16 from Greg Babcock. The junior center also led also scorers, putting up 27.
The second half was more of the same for Cleveland State. After junior Tahric Gosley (Philadelphia, Pa./Simon Gratz) cut the lead to 25-21 with a tough layup over Babcock, the Phoenix ran off four quick points and led by no fewer than six the rest of the way.
"We didn't have the emotion we had on Thursday," Massimino said. "Green Bay played extremely well today."
The Phoenix hit 25-of-46 (54 percent) from the floor, including 22-of-28 from the foul line. The Vikings hit 25-of-53 (47 percent), but hit just a meager 7-of-22 in the first half.
Dixon led Cleveland State with 25 points. Harris finished with 16.
Both teams will be back in Goodman Arena next week for the Horizon League Tournament. The Phoenix (#8 seed) face off against Youngstown State (#9) on Friday at 7 p.m.
The Vikings, who will be seeded #7, will play a team yet to be determined at 6 p.m. Saturday.
