Dec. 19, 2004
Contact: Brian McCann
OREM, Utah - Ronnie Price scored 21 of his game-high 34 points in the second half to lead Utah Valley State past Cleveland State, 72-65 on Saturday night in UVSC's McKay Center.
Omari Westley, who was plagued by foul trouble in the first half, scored all of his 16 points in the second half to lead the Vikings offensively. He added a game-high 11 rebounds to record his fourth double-double of the year.
"This is a disappointing loss," head coach Mike Garland said. "For the third game in a row, we put ourselves in the position to win but just couldn't pull it out down the stretch."
After Patrick Tatham gave CSU a 2-0 lead in the opening minute, the Vikings struggled offensively, trailing by as many as seven points, 16-9 with 13:03 left in the first half.
UVSC would fend off the Vikings advances until the last two minutes of the half when back-to-back baskets by Raheem Moss and Walt Chavis gave CSU a 29-26 lead with 1:47 left. Moss, who did not start for the second straight game because of a sprained ankle suffered against Akron on Dec. 8, scored 11 of his 13 points in the first half.
The Wolverines knotted the score at 29-29 but Amadou Koundoul put the Vikings ahead, 31-29 at the half on a layup with 11 seconds left.
Westley extended the CSU advantage to 33-29 in the opening minute of the second half and the Vikings maintained the lead until the 13:08 mark when Price connected on a jumper in the lane to put the Wolverines ahead, 44-42.
Mike Redell scored his only basket of the game to tie the game at 44-44 with 13:00 left, but Price scored five points during a 7-0 UVSC run to put the Wolverines ahead for good.
Price would connect on a three-pointer with 4:57 left to give Utah Valley State its largest lead, 60-51.
Westley answered with a pair of baskets in the lane to bring CSU to within 60-55 with 3:25 left, but the Vikings could not score on either of its next two possessions. Pierre Thomas put the game out of reach with a three-pointer as the shot clock expired and CSU would come no closer than five points in the final minutes.
Outside shooting and turnovers, which were a strength of the Vikings in the first five games of the season, were the cause of the offensive struggles. CSU turned the ball over a season-high 22 times and shot a season-low .176 from three-point (3-17).
Utah Valley State's defensive strategy of closely defending the perimeter paid off as Modibo Niakate, who entered the game as the leading scorer in the Horizon League with a 17.0 scoring average, did not take a shot, scoring all four of his points from the foul line in the second half.
Cleveland State plays one more game before a short break for the holidays, traveling to Ypsilanti, Mich. on Thursday (Dec. 23) to face Eastern Michigan.
