Feb. 25, 2012
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes
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CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cleveland State closed the regular season with a 77-55 win over Wright State on Saturday afternoon, clinching the No. 2 seed in next week's Horizon League Championship.
It will be the second time that the Vikings will be the two-seed in the league tournament, earning two byes and a spot in the semifinals. CSU will play an opponent to be determined on Saturday (March 3).
"I thought these young men - especially these seniors - went out in style," head coach Gary Waters said. "We talked about leaving a legacy. We had not played well in our last couple of outings at home and we know that no one comes in our house and takes anything from us.
"People are fickle and they will only remember the ending and won't remember what we did in the past, so we tried to leave a legacy because these seniors won a lot of games."
CSU improved to 22-9 overall and 12-6 in the Horizon League. The 12 league wins are tied for the second most in school history. Wright State fell to 13-18 and 7-11 in league play.
On Senior Day, it was only fitting that the trio of seniors Trey Harmon, Jeremy Montgomery and Aaron Pogue keyed the victory. All three - along with D'Aundray Brown, who missed his seventh game of the last eight - were honored in a pre-game ceremony for their accomplishments at CSU.
The included 91 wins, two league titles, two postseason berths and an appearance in the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2009.
Harmon scored a game-high 20 points, hitting three three-pointers, to raise his total to 71 this season. That sets a CSU single season school record, breaking the old mark of 70 held by Theo Dixon and Damon Stringer.
Montgomery added 17 points, five assists and two steals, while Pogue finished with seven points and three rebounds.
"Jeremy Montgomery, Trevon Harmon and Aaron Pogue, along with D'Aundray Brown, are three of the reasons why we are here," Waters said. "As underclassmen, they experienced going to the NCAA tournament, so they saw what it takes to be successful. They want to win a championship on their own - they want to say they led guys to a championship."
The Vikings started quickly today, taking a 13-6 lead five minutes in, but the Raiders would rally to take their first lead of the contest (24-23) at the 5:12 mark.
It would be the only WSU lead of the afternoon as CSU took a 30-27 lead at the half and turned it into an 11 point lead (40-29) by scoring 10 of the first 12 points of the second half.
WSU did get its deficit back to four points (42-38), but the Vikings answered once again, using a 13-4 spurt to regain a 13 point lead (55-42) with 9:37 left. The lead remained double figures the rest of the afternoon.
CSU shot better than 60-percent from the field for the fourth time this year, hitting 29-of-46 (.630), including 8-of-20 (.400) from three-point. The Vikings also held a 31-26 advantage on the glass.
Anton Grady added 12 points, eight rebounds and four blocks, marking his 12th double-digit scoring game in league play.
The Vikings are now out of action until the league semifinals on Saturday (March 3) at Valparaiso against an opponent to be determined.
Cleveland State vs. Wright State
February 25, 2012 - Wolstein Center
Game Notes
• Today was the 57th all-time meeting between Cleveland State and Wright State. The Vikings swept the season series and continue to lead the all-time series, 30-27. CSU has won six straight contests against the Raiders and seven of the last eight.
• Today's win clinched the No. 2 seed in the Horizon League Championship for CSU. It is the second time the Vikings will be the two-seed for the tournament, the first coming in 2007-08. That year, the Vikings defeated Valparaiso in the semifinals and fell at Butler in the championship.
• As the No. 2 seed, the Vikings will receive a bye into the semifinals of the league tournament and play their first game on Saturday (March 3) against an opponent to be determined. The game will be played at top-seeded Valparaiso.
• CSU finished the year with a 12-6 mark in the Horizon League, tied for the second most league wins in a season (1986-87 & 2010-11). Both the 1985-86 and 1992-93 squads won 14 league contests.
• CSU's four seniors and two senior managers were honored in a pre-game ceremony before the Vikings final regular season game. Together, the seniors have helped CSU to 91 victories, two Horizon League Championships, two postseason appearances and the second round of the 2009 NCAA tournament.
• Today's win was the 91st in the career of senior Jeremy Montgomery, tying him with Ken "Mouse" McFadden (1985-89) for the most wins in school history.
• Montgomery also moved from 14th place to 12th place on the all-time scoring list at CSU. He now has 1,319 career points after a 17-point effort today.
• Trey Harmon hit three three-pointers today, improving his season total to 71 and setting a new CSU single season school record. The old record was 70 held by Damon Stringer (1999-00) and Theo Dixon (2000-01).
• Harmon also moved up two spots on the all-time scoring list from 15th to 13th. He has 1,316 career points after his 20 point effort. It was his sixth 20-point game of the season.
• Anton Grady finished with 12 points and eight rebounds, his 15th double-digit scoring game of the season and his 12th in 18 league games.
• Today's win improved the Vikings to 10-4 at home this year, the fifth straight year of at least 10 wins for CSU, tying the program record for most years of at least 10 home wins (1983-84 through 1987-88).
• Freshman Charlie Lee made his third career start today and his second in the last three games. He finished with five points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals.
• Both Aaron Pogue and Tim Kamczyc played in their 100th career game today.
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