Nov. 17, 2012
Contact: Greg Murphy
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CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cleveland State used a strong second half and all five starters scored in double figures as the Vikings claimed a 67-55 win over Old Dominion on Saturday afternoon in the Wolstein Center.
The Vikings won for the third time in four games this year, while the Monarchs slipped to 1-3.
It was the third time in four games that CSU's five starters scored in double figures.
"I thought our guys played a hard, tough second half, CSU head coach Gary Waters said. "We kind of let the zone kind of frustrate us in the first half and we were hesitant. We started screening the zone and were able to get inside and drive the basketball. What I was impressed with is how hard we played defensively. That's Cleveland State basketball."
Marlin Mason led the way with a career-high 17 points, while Anton Grady and Charlie Lee scored 13 points apiece. Sebastian Douglas added 11 points and Tim Kamczyc scored 10.
ODU held a five point halftime lead, but a Lee jumper cut the lead to three (30-27). ODU responded with four straight points to take a seven point lead (34-27), but that's when the Vikings took over.
Grady hit a jumper at the 18:42 mark to start a 15-1 run that put the Vikings ahead, 42-35 on two free throws by Kamczyc with 14:14 left.
CSU pushed its lead to double figures (51-41) midway through the half on a pair of Grady free throws as the lead swelled to as many as 13 points late in the contest.
After shooting just 36-percent in the first half, CSU rebounded to shoot 52-percent (14-27) in the final 20 minutes. The Vikings also held ODU to 6-of-24 (.250) shooting in the second half.
The teams traded baskets over the first eight minutes of the opening stanza with the Monarchs using two free throws by Nick Wright to take an 11-10 lead at the 12:10 mark. Those two free tosses started an 11-0 run that saw the ODU lead grow to double figures (20-10) with 8:16 left in the half.
The Vikings clawed back, using a pair of Grady dunks to highlight a 13-6 run of their own, capped by a Bryn Forbes three-pointer, to get back within three (26-23) with 2:22 left in the half.
But it was CSU's second half performance that made the difference.
The Monarchs held a 36-28 advantage on the boards and outscored CSU's bench, 24-3. CSU committed just nine turnovers, while forcing 17 by ODU which were turned into 19 points.
The Vikings will be back in action on Monday (Nov. 19) when CSU begins play in the NIT Season Tip-Off consolation round with a 5:00 p.m. game against Alabama-Huntsville at Robert Morris. CSU will then play Robert Morris at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday (Nov. 20).
POSTGAME NOTES
• Today was the second all-time meeting between the schools and was a BracketBuster return game. ODU won the first meeting, a 74-63 victory in Norfolk, Va., on Feb. 20, 2011.
• Tim Kamczyc set a career-high with seven assists.
• All five starters scored in double figures for CSU today. It marked the third time in four games that CSU's five starters recorded double figures. Marlin Mason had 17 points to lead the way, while Charlie Lee and Anton Grady had 13 each, Sebastian Douglas finished with 11 points and Tim Kamczyc 10.
• Today's win was the 296th in the 17-year coaching career of Gary Waters. He is now 296-218, including 125-83 at CSU.
• The Vikings moved to 2-0 at home this year and have won four straight in the Wolstein Center dating to last year.
TOday's game began a stretch of three games in four days for CSU. The Vikings had opened the season with three games in five days, meaning the Vikings will play six games over the first 12 days of the season.
