Dec. 4, 2009
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FAIRBORN, Ohio - Cooper Land led five raiders in double figures with 14 points as Wright State outlasted the Vikings, 73-64, in the Horizon league opener on Thursday night in Wright State's Nutter Center.
Cleveland State (3-5, 0-1) has lost four straight, while Wright State improves to 4-2 (1-0 HL).
"This was a tough and physical game but that is what we expected," head coach Gary Waters said. "Wright State is one of the best, if not the best teams in the conference this year and they showed why tonight. They suffocated us defensively and gave us very few clean looks. I thought we played hard and physical but we didn't necessarily play together well."
"We did a better job of defending in the half court but they still got way too many good shot opportunities. Any time our opponent shoots over 50-percent it is going to be hard for us to win. We hung with them in the first half but got sloppy in the last minute and that let the halftime score go from us being down three to down eight," Waters added.
Norris Cole led the Vikings with 18 points but he had to fight and scrap for every shot he got. He was 4-7 from two-point but just 1-5 from behind the arc. He was also 7-10 from the line with four assists and five turnovers. Jeremy Montgomery added 13 points all in the second half, and most in the final five minutes. He was 5- 6 from the field. Trey Harmon added ten points but struggled through a 3-13 night.
Wright State picked to finish second in the Horizon League this year, was firing on all cylinders, shooting .512 from the field for the game (21-41), and out-rebounded CSU 29-25. Land came off the bench to go 3-5 from three-point, while the preseason first team all-league tandem of Vaughn Duggins and Todd Brown, added ten and nine points respectively. Cory Cooperwood had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds while Troy Tabler (10 points) and Scott Grott (10 points) each added additional scoring.
Play was tight from the onset as both teams shot 50-percent or better from the field as Wright State took a 36-28 lead at the half.
The early part of the game featured three ties and five lead changes with the Vikings leading by as many as three, 8-5 with 16:15 left in the first half.
With CSU leading, 14-13 with 10:45 left, the Raiders ran off seven straight points, including baskets by Cooper Land and Cory Cooperwood and a three by Troy Tabler, to take a 20-14 lead.
The Raider lead would grow to as many as nine in the opening half, 31-22 with 3:00 left before the Vikings ran of six straight points on a field goal and pair of free throws by Cole and a layup by Brown to pull to within 31-28 with 1:45 left.
Wright State answered down the stretch, scoring the last five points of the half on a basket by Todd Brown and a three-point play by Scott Grote.
Wright State shot an even 50-percent in the first half (12-24) while CSU was slightly ahead, making 11 of 21 (.524).
The difference in the opening half came both at foul line and behind the arc where Wright State had decisive advantages. The Raiders were nine-for-10 from the line (.900) and three-for-eight from three (.375) while CSU could manage just eight trips to the line, making five (.625), and one-for-six from three (.167).
The Vikings kept the deficit within 12 through the first seven minutes, but cold shooting by the Vikings allowed Wright State to push the margin to 16 (51-35) with 11:45 left. The lead would grow to as many as 18, on a pair of Todd Brown free throws with 7:57 left (59-41) before the Vikings would muster a come back in the final minutes.
Still the Vikings were hampered with a season high 28 fouls that allowed Wright State to go to the line 39 times, making 27. The Raiders scored just two field goals in the last eight minutes, but scored 12 of its final 16 points from the stripe.
The Vikings return to action on Saturday (Dec. 5) when CSU closes the inaugural week of Horizon League play with a 1:00 p.m. game at Detroit. The game will be televised by Fox Sports Detroit.
