Nov. 24, 2007
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes
Contact: Brian McCann
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cedric Jackson led three Viking players in double figures as Cleveland State moved to 4-2 with a 67-57 victory over John Carroll in nonconference action Saturday afternoon in the Wolstein Center.
"I've got to give John Carroll a lot of credit," CSU head coach Gary Waters said. "They came in hit some shots and did what they had to do.
"I was pleased with our overall defensive effort tonight and holding them to 37 percent shooting. Our defense is our identity and if that identity didn't show up tonight, we could have been in trouble."
CSU forced 21 Blue Streak turnovers that were converted into 18 Viking points, including a 20-2 CSU advantage in fast break points. In addition, the Vikings recorded 12 steals and six blocked shots, including five from Chris Moore.
J'Nathan Bullock finished with 10 points and six rebounds, while Joe Davis added 10 points off the bench. Moore chipped in six points, and nine rebounds for CSU, which outrebounded the Blue Streaks, 43-29, and held a 12-4 advantage in second chance points.
John Carroll hung with the Vikings for a majority of the first half as CSU led just once during the first 13 minutes of the game when a D'Aundray Brown layup gave the Vikings an 11-10 lead with 13:13 to play.
JCU (2-1) led by as many as five points on three occasions in the first half with the final time coming on a three-pointer from Terry Walsh with 9:06 to play that gave the Blue Streaks an 18-13 advantage.
However, CSU would go on a 12-0 run over the next four minutes to assume 25-18 lead on a pair of free throws from Moore. Bullock keyed the run with four points, while Jackson also had a steal and a breakaway dunk during the run.
The Vikings, who led by eight points (33-25) at the half, pushed the lead to as many as 15 points (55-40) with 11:18 to play in the game on a layup from Beyohn Watson. However, the Blue Streaks would not go away as they scored nine of the next 11 points to cut the deficit to eight points, 57-49, with 6:47 to play.
JCU still trailed by eight points with 3:32 to play following a pair of free throws by Rudy Kirbus, but six straight points by the Vikings, culminated by a Bullock breakaway dunk, extended the lead back to 14 and sealed the win.
CSU hit .431 (25-58) from the field, but connected on just 1-of-13 from three-point land as the Vikings faced a zone defense for a majority of the game.
"We are not a great three-point shooting team, but we can score in so many other ways," Waters said. "A lot of teams just start shooting from the outside against a zone, so it's good to see that we did only have 13 attempts."
Terry Walsh scored a game-high 18 points and added seven rebounds for JCU, while Kirbus scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds. The Blue Streaks hit 20-of-54 (.370) from the field, including .438 (7-16) from three-point.
The Vikings return to action on Wednesday night when they host Cal State Northridge at 7:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center.
