Dec. 22, 2009
Contact: Brian McCann
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COLUMBUS, Ohio - Jeremy Montgomery scored a career-high 25 points, but 17th-ranked Ohio State shot 48 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point to claim a 72-59 victory over Cleveland State on Tuesday night in Value City Arena.
The Vikings fell to 4-9 overall, while Ohio State improved to 10-2.
Montgomery hit 7-of-12 from the field, including 5-of-8 from three-point, to better his old career high of 21 points at UIC last season.
D'Aundray Brown added seven points and nine rebounds, while Nigel Ajere scored seven points with seven rebounds.
David Lighty led OSU with 30 points and seven rebounds, while William Buford scored 13 points and Dallas Lauderdale added 12 points, eight rebounds and five blocked shots.
Ohio State controlled the game in the early going, racing out to a 13-3 lead and forcing Waters to use a quick timeout. It worked as the Vikings picked up their defensive intensity and began to find the range from the field to claw back in it.
CSU's defense forced six Buckeye turnovers in the first seven minutes.
The Vikings used their defense to create offensive opportunities, going on a 9-0 spurt to pull within one (13-12) on an 18-foot jumper by D'Aundray Brown. Trevon Harmon added a key three-pointer during the run.
David Lighty stopped the bleeding for OSU, hitting a three-pointer with 10:41 to play which gave the Buckeyes a 16-12 lead. His basket helped end a six minute scoring drought for OSU.
CSU stayed within three until a 5-0 Buckeye run pushed their advantage to 21-14 with just under six minutes to play. OSU's lead would once again swell to 10 points (28-18), However, a layup by Anthony Wells and a Jared Cunningham three-pointer with 38 seconds left in the half pulled CSU within five points (28-23).
However, William Buford answered with a three-pointer on the other end with eight seconds to play, allowing the Buckeyes to take a 31-23 halftime lead.
Two quick buckets by OSU opened the second half scoring and gave the Buckeyes a 35-23 lead, forcing a CSU timeout just 36 seconds into the half.
But Montgomery scored seven straight points to cap a 13-5 run that brought CSU within four points (40-36), the closest the Vikings had gotten since midway through the first half.
But that's when Lighty took over, scoring 14 of OSU's next 15 points as the Buckeyes built a 56-42 lead with 7:25 left in the game.
The Vikings would get back within eight points (65-57) with 2:06 to play on a pair of Montgomery free throws, but Lighty answered with a three-point play and P.J. Hill made a layup and Jon Diebler made two free throws to push the lead to 15 points (72-57) with 37 seconds to play and seal the win.
CSU shot .365 (19-52) from the field, hitting 9-of-23 (.391) from three-point. The Buckeyes hit 21-of-44 (.477) from the floor, knocking down 7-of-14 from three-point.
OSU also held a large advantage at the free throw line, knocking down 23-of-31 (.742) from the charity stripe, while CSU was just 10-of-14 (.714). The Vikings were whistled for 28 fouls, compared to just 13 for the Buckeyes.
Both teams finished with 31 rebounds and 16 turnovers.
The Vikings will return to action on Tuesday, Dec. 29, when CSU travels to 12th-ranked Kansas State for a 7:00 p.m. CST contest. It will be the third consecutive team the Vikings will play that is ranked in the top-25.
