Nov. 29, 2006

Final Stats |  Quotes |  Notes

CLEVELAND, Ohio - When Gary Waters took the job at Cleveland State this past spring, he was charged with "changing a losing culture." Positive results have come quickly, as just one month into his first season at the helm of the Vikings Waters has led the Vikings to a 5-3 record after a 66-59 win over Kent State on Wednesday (Nov. 29) night at the Wolstein Center. The loss dropped the Golden Flashes, Waters' former team, to 4-3.

After Cleveland State took its largest lead of the night (46-30), Kent State rallied to within 51-47 at the 5:56 mark. Two free throws and a jumper by sophomore J'Nathan Bullock pushed CSU's edge to 55-47.

The Vikings would maintain a lead of no less eight until the 1:48 mark when KSU's Armon Gates sank two free throws to pull the Flashes within 61-55. A lay-up by Omni Smith would make it 61-57, but KSU would get no closer as the Vikings the Vikings made 5-of-7 free throws in the final minute to win.

"I want to give a `hats off' to Kent State," Waters said. "They didn't back down. We had a 14-point lead and they were able to fight back in the game. They have a very good team."

Poor free throw shooting doomed the Flashes, who made just 14 of 27 at the line in addition to 39 percent shooting from the field.

The Vikings shot just 36 percent on the night, but made up for that number by knocking down 10-of-22 from three-point range.

"When you can shoot like that and win a ballgame, you have to feel pretty good about that," Waters said.

Seniors Carlos English and Raheem Moss each scored 14 points to lead the Vikings and fellow senior Victor Morris added 11. English shot 3-of-4 from downtown while Moss made 3-of-9 from beyond the arc. English added six assists while Moss had five rebounds.

Bullock grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and scored eight points on just 2-of-10 shooting.

Julian Sullinger led KSU, who had previously won six straight over the Vikings, with 12 points and eight rebounds.

The first half belonged to the Vikings as Carlos English hit a three-pointer just 1:38 into the contest to give CSU a 3-2 lead.

Cleveland State would hold onto the lead for all but 30 seconds the rest of the half, turning back both Golden Flash runs that forced them to temporarily give up the lead.

After Victor Morris and Patrick Tatham hit field goals to put CSU ahead, 8-3, KSU rallied behind four points from Chris Singletary to take a 9-8 lead.

The lead lasted for just 16 seconds as Morris connected on a long jumper to give the Vikings a 10-9 edge with 13:44 left.

Two straight baskets by Renard Fields, the second a thunderous dunk off a sweet low-post pass from Raheem Moss, put the lead back to 14-9 with 11:54 left.

The Golden Flashes rallied again, regaining the lead (21-19) on a pair of Mike McKee free throws with 5:04 left.

The lead was short-lived again as Moss buried a three-pointer from the corner to start a 15-3 run that sent CSU to the locker room with a 34-24 lead.

The Vikings begin a tough four-game road stretch on Saturday (Dec. 2) at No. 19 Butler at 8:00 p.m. The Vikings' next contest at the Wolstein Center is on Dec. 19 against Chicago State.