Nov. 22, 2006

Final Stats |  Quotes |  Notes

Contact: Brian McCann

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Freshman Joe Davis led four Vikings in double figures with 17 and played stifling backcourt defense as the Vikings defeated crosstown John Carroll, 84-65, on Wednesday (Nov. 22) night at the Wolstein Center. The victory, which was CSU's seventh straight against John Carroll dating back to the 1967-68 season moves CSU to 3-3, while John Carroll falls to 1-2.

Davis did his damage on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 free throw shooting and also grabbed six rebounds. More importantly, it was Davis' play on the defensive end of the floor that proved to be the difference.

"I thought Joe's defense changed the complexity of the game," head coach Gary Waters. "He took John Carroll out of its offense.

"And he's a scorer. We want to give him a lot of freedom. You have to understand that he scores double figures coming off the bench. He's a natural scorer and he has the potential to give our team a lift."

John Carroll hung with the Vikings early, pulling within 25-21 on a lay-up by Pete Moran at the 4:56 mark of the first half. A 9-3 spurt by CSU gave the Vikings a 34-24 lead with 2:11 remaining in the half and they would take a 36-28 lead into the halftime locker room.

"Our guys didn't realize at first that John Carroll could play as well they did," Waters said. "They played hard and I give them credit. Once we realized that they could play, we did an outstanding job of defending."

The Blue Streaks, who shot 32 percent for the evening, never seriously threatened after that though the Vikings could not pull away.

Cleveland State stormed out of the gates to open the second stanza, going on an 11-1 run the extended the lead to 47-29 with 16:49 left.

The lead would grow to as large as 29, 82-53, at the 2:59 mark before both teams cleared their benches.

Senior Patrick Tatham added 11 points while fellow seniors Raheem Moss and Carlos English each scored 10.

The Vikings take a short break for the Thanksgiving holiday before returning to action on Sunday (Nov. 26) when CSU travels to Newark, Del. for a rematch of last years BracketBuster Saturday contest against Delaware.