Dec. 4, 2005
Contact: Brian McCann
KENT, Ohio - A 16-3 second-half run by Kent State spoiled a strong shooting effort by Cleveland State as the Golden Flashes registered an 85-68 decision over the Vikings on Saturday night (Dec. 3) at the M.A.C. Center.
Cleveland State finished the affair shooting more than 43 percent (.434) from the field, including a season-high 47.4 percent from beyond the arc (9-of-19). KSU proved to be slightly more efficient from floor as the Golden Flashes tickled the twines at a .455 clip.
Three Vikings recorded double-figures, led by a career-high 21-point performance from J'Nathan Bullock. The 21 points, 18 of which came in the second half, was the most by a Viking player this season. Joining him in double-digits was Raheem Moss and Patrick Tatham with 16 and 10 points, respectively with all of Moss's points coming in the first half and seven of Tatham's coming after the break.
Jay Youngblood paced Kent State with 19 points with Kevin Warzynski adding 13 and Nate Gerwig posting a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
CSU was hurt in the decisive second half as both Moss and Carlos English missed the final 15 minutes with leg cramps. This proved to be even more critical as Moss sparked a first-half rally that saw the Vikings overcome a six-point deficit by scoring 13 consecutive tallies for CSU.
The contest was ultimately decided in the paint as Kent State outscored the Green and White 40-24 inside and had a 43-31 rebounding advantage.
The game started in stark contrast to which it ended as the two sides seemingly traded baskets before the Golden Flashes used a quick 4-0 run to stretch the advantage out to 21-13, with 10 minutes remaining in the first half. Following a CSU timeout, English connected on a basket and a three-pointer to cut the deficit down to just three, 21-18. Three free throws though by Kent State pushed the lead back to six, 24-18.
A three-pointer by Tatham sparked a 10-2 CSU run which helped the Vikings erase a six-point deficit to regain the lead, 28-26. Fueling the run was the first seven of what proved to be 13 consecutive Cleveland State points scored by Moss.
Kent pulled away in the final four minutes of the half, using baskets by Gerwig and Youngblood and a three-pointer from Gates during a 7-0 run that turned a tie game into a 38-31 contest with 2:40 left. CSU would cut the lead to four but Youngblood buried a three-pointer with 47 seconds left and Mike Scott made one of two free throws to give the Flashes a 44-35 lead at the break.
The Golden Flashes extended the lead to 13, 50-37 with 17:42 left before Tatham ran off seven straight Vikings points to close the gap to 50-44 with 15:59 remaining.
Things went south after that for CSU as both Moss and English went to the sidelines with cramps in their legs and did not return, limiting the Vikings options offensively.
Bullock did his best to keep CSU in the contest, scoring 16 of the Vikings final 24 points, but it was not enough as Kent used a patient offense down the stretch to hold CSU at bay.
Bullock finished with a career-high 21 points, going five-for-nine from the field and setting a CSU freshman record by attempting 20 free throws, making 11. He broke the old freshman mark of 19 set by Clinton Ransey against Northern Iowa on March 9, 1984.
The 20 free throw attempts were also the third-highest single game total in CSU history, trailing the record 22 by Gale Drummer vs. Ball State in 1974-75 and the 21 by Mike Campbell against Buffalo State in 1997-98.
The Vikings will now have the week off before entertaining Albany at the Wolstein Center on Saturday, Dec. 10.
