Detroit 92, Cleveland State 58

Posted on March 15, 2006 at 5:05 PM - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

DETROIT -- Ben Green scored a career-high 15 points and Jon Goode added 14 to help Detroit rout Cleveland State 92-58 on Tuesday in the first round of the Horizon League Tournament.

The Titans (16-15), the tournament's No. 5 seed, will play Loyola of Chicago in Friday's second round in Milwaukee.

J'Nathan Bullock scored 17 points and Raheem Moss and Carlos English had 11 each for the eighth-seeded Vikings (10-18), who lost to Detroit for the fifth time in six tournament meetings and fell to 0-19 at Calihan Hall.

The Titans outscored Cleveland State 17-4 in the first six minutes of the second half to push their lead past 20 points. Chuck Bailey had 13 points and a career-high 16 rebounds as Detroit outrebounded the Vikings 40-19 and outscored them 40-22 in the paint.

Detroit, which scored more than 90 points for the first time since the 2003-04 season, also received 10 points apiece from Brandon Cotton and Torvoris Baker.

The Titans opened the game with a 13-0 run and led 40-29 at halftime. Bailey's dozen first-half rebounds matched the Vikings' total

Detroit dispatches Cleveland State to face Milwaukee

Posted on March 2, 2006 at 3:37 PM - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Cold-Shooting Vikings Fall To Youngstown State, 72-54

Posted on February 17, 2006 at 3:05 PM - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

CLEVELAND - On a night when Erin Martin became the 19th player in school history to score 1,000 career points, Cleveland State's shooting woes doomed the Vikings in a 72-54 loss to in-state rival Youngstown State.

Martin achieved the milestone with her basket at the 11:37 mark of the second half, cutting the Penguin lead to just seven (46-39) after YSU had led by as much as 21 earlier in the stanza. However, the Penguins answered with a 22-6 jaunt to take their biggest lead of the game (68-45) with 4:35 remaining.

The Canfield, Ohio native finished with 14 points in addition to pulling down a career-high 14 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season. Dominique Butler added 12 points, a career-best eight steals and seven rebounds. Her steal total is tied with six other players for the fifth-best single-game mark in school history.

YSU (7-17, 3-10 HL) connected on 45.1 percent of its field goal attempts (23-51), while holding the Vikings to a 33.9 percent effort (21-62). In addition, the Penguins turned 24 CSU turnovers into 32 points to offset 19 second-chance points by the Vikings (3-21, 1-12 HL).

"It's a great milestone for Erin -- she's worked really hard to get here," CSU head coach Kate Peterson said. "Our problem is we still go minutes at a time without being able to put the ball in the basket. We got good looks, we just couldn't convert. And we made entirely too many turnovers."

Ashlee Russo and Monique Godfrey scored 16 and 15 points, respectively for YSU, while Jessica Schloemp added 13 points and 13 rebounds.

The Vikings close out their regular season home schedule when they host Loyola on Saturday (Feb. 18) at 3:00 p.m. Seniors Omega Harrington, Erin Martin and Kim Neidermeyer will be recognized in a pregame ceremony. The contest is part of a doubleheader with the Cleveland State men hosting Delaware at 5:30 p.m.

Loyola of Chicago 81, Cleveland St. 75

Posted on February 6, 2006 at 5:16 PM - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

CHICAGO (AP) - Blake Schilb had 27 points and Leon Young added 20 as Loyola of Chicago overcame a slow start, then pulled away in the closing minutes for an 81-75 Horizon League victory over Cleveland State Saturday.

The Vikings (8-13, 4-7 Horizon League) sped to an 11-2 lead in the opening minutes, but Loyola caught them at 28-28 on a 3-pointer by Schilb with 6:09 left in the first half.

The Ramblers led 38-37 at halftime, and the game was tied at 44 before Schilb put Loyola ahead to stay with another 3-pointer with 13:47 left.

The Ramblers (13-8, 5-6) never held more than a six-point lead, as Cleveland State kept close, hitting eight of eight free throw attempts in the final four minutes.

Young added eight rebounds to his 20-point total, and Majak Kou had 17 points to back up Schilb.

Cleveland State got a career-high 20 points from Ije Nwankwo, who hit all 10 of his free throws. J'Nathan Bullock had 17, while Patrick Tatham added 14 and grabbed 11 rebounds.

The loss was the fourth in a row for Cleveland State, and the ninth game in a row that the Vikings have lost to Loyola.

Loyola of Chicago 81, Cleveland St. 75

Posted on February 6, 2006 at 5:16 PM - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

CHICAGO (AP) - Blake Schilb had 27 points and Leon Young added 20 as Loyola of Chicago overcame a slow start, then pulled away in the closing minutes for an 81-75 Horizon League victory over Cleveland State Saturday.

The Vikings (8-13, 4-7 Horizon League) sped to an 11-2 lead in the opening minutes, but Loyola caught them at 28-28 on a 3-pointer by Schilb with 6:09 left in the first half.

The Ramblers led 38-37 at halftime, and the game was tied at 44 before Schilb put Loyola ahead to stay with another 3-pointer with 13:47 left.

The Ramblers (13-8, 5-6) never held more than a six-point lead, as Cleveland State kept close, hitting eight of eight free throw attempts in the final four minutes.

Young added eight rebounds to his 20-point total, and Majak Kou had 17 points to back up Schilb.

Cleveland State got a career-high 20 points from Ije Nwankwo, who hit all 10 of his free throws. J'Nathan Bullock had 17, while Patrick Tatham added 14 and grabbed 11 rebounds.

The loss was the fourth in a row for Cleveland State, and the ninth game in a row that the Vikings have lost to Loyola.

Cleveland State Vikings

Posted on February 3, 2006 at 6:28 PM - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Cleveland State (8-12, 4-6) at Loyola (12-8, 4-6)
Date: Saturday, February 4, 2006
Time: 4:00 p.m. CST
Site: Gentile Center (5,200), Chicago, Ill.
TV: None. Live video available online through CSTV at CSUVikings.com
Radio: WKNR, 850 AM (Al Pawlowski & Jason Gibbs)
Series: Loyola Leads, 18-9
Last Meeting: Loyola 77, CSU 60 (12/29/05 at CSU)

SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State will attempt to end a three-game Horizon League losing streak when the Vikings play at Loyola on Saturday, Feb. 4 beginning at 4:00 p.m. CST in Loyola's Gentile Center. After successive losses to Butler (55-51), Youngstown State (68-63) and Detroit (84-73), the Vikings find themselves in sixth place with Loyola in the Horizon League at 4-6. CSU is 3-2 on the road in league play, but saw its three-game road winning streak come to an end on Thursday night at Detroit. Loyola has struggled in league play, winning just four of its first 10 contests after going through its non-conference schedule with an 8-2 record, the second-best record among league teams.

PREVIEWING CLEVELAND STATE: After using the same starting lineup for nine straight games, Mike Garland shook the starting group up a bit on Thursday night, putting Luke Murphy and Victor Morris back into the starting squad and moving J'Nathan Bullock and Carlos English into reserve roles. Junior guard Raheem Moss (10.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg) continues to be the offensive barometer of the team with newcomers Ije Nwankwo (10.9, 5.4) and Bullock (10.5, 4.2) combining to give CSU one of the strongest front lines in the Horizon League. Junior Carlos English (8.3 ppg, 4.9 apg) gives the Vikings a point guard who not only excels at running the offense, but adds the extra dimensions of playing defense and being able to score from the perimeter. Veterans Patrick Tatham (8.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg), Frashon McGee (5.2, 5.8) and Victor Morris (6.0, 2.7 apg) have proven to be the backbone of the squad, each averaging more than 20 minutes a game. The unusual depth of the Vikings -- CSU plays as many as 12 players every game -- allows Garland to run his high-intensity schemes while giving him additional substitutions for most situations.

SOME HOME COURT EDGE: The homecourt advantage doesn't seem to apply this year in Horizon League play if the Vikings are one of the two teams involved in a game. In the nine league games involving CSU, the home team has gone just 3-7 with CSU winning three of its four games on the road and dropping four of the five at home. In the 37 league games that haven't involved the Vikings, the home team is 27-10. CSU is the only Horizon League team to have a losing record at home this year (5-7).

VIKINGS DRAW DELAWARE AS PART OF BRACKETBUSTERS: Cleveland State will host Delaware of the Colonial Athletic Association on Saturday, February 18 beginning at 5:30 p.m. in a pool game that is part of the 2006 BracketBusters presented by ebay. The pairings for the fourth annual event were announced earlier this week with 100 teams representing 18 different conferences taking part in the event. This is the third year that CSU is taking part in the event, hosting Eastern Michigan in 2004 and playing at Central Michigan last year.

STREAMING VIDEO AVAILABLE ONLNE OF CSU GAMES: Under a new plan put in place during the off-season, all Horizon League men's and women's conference games will be available either via over-the-air or cable television or via video streaming on the League's official web site at www.horizonleague.org. All games not cleared on television will be shown live on the web through a new partnership with College Sports TV Online, which also is the web provider for five League schools and the conference office. The service is available for free once a guest registers and can be accessed by clicking on the link on CSUVikings.com. Each broadcast will feature the radio play-by-play of the host school and video taken from at least three different camera angles.

VIKINGS ARE ONE WIN AWAY FROM LAST YEAR: With at least eight games to go in the season, Cleveland State stands just one win away from equaling last year's nine-win total.

A NEW LEADER: Saturday's game against Youngstown State was the 65th meeting all-time with the Penguins, allowing them to take over the mantra as the most-often played opponent in Vikings basketball history. Youngstown State is only the third team to own the distinction, and the first in over 70 years. Detroit Tech was the first, playing Fenn College twice during each of the first three seasons. Hiram has held the lead since Jan. 16, 1934, when the Terriers played their seventh game against Fenn. Hiram went on to play the Foxes twice a year from 1935-36 until the series was discontinued following the 1967-68 season.

THE BROTHERHOOD BAND: Each member of the Viking basketball team and coaching staff are sporting green wristbands this year that are emblazoned with the word "Brotherhood," one of the squad's themes for the season. Mike Garland created the band as a way to show the team the importance of unity. CSU hosted a group of basketball alumni for a dinner before the first practice of the year on Oct. 14, after which Garland passed out the bands to the alumni in a ceremony at mid-court. Garland then had each of the alumni put a band on the wrist of each of the players and coaches.

. . . AND THE HAMMER: On the first day of preseason practice, as the basketball team, coaches and alumni watched, Mike Garland used a sledgehammer to crush a concrete cinder block that had inscribed on it the names of each school that CSU lost to over the previous two seasons. The action was taken to symbolically show that the frustration of the last two years is behind the Vikings. The sledgehammer has since been given a new paint job and it accompanies CSU to all games as a reminder to the Viking players.

MAKING THE GRADE: The Vikings turned in one of their best performances in the classroom in recent memory during the just completed fall semester. The 17 players on the roster combined to post a 2.82 GPA for the semester with Vikings Robert Clark, Steve Kallman, Cory Rojeck and Greg Vlosich each earning a spot on the Dean's List with Clark overcoming knee surgery during the week before finals to record a perfect 4.0 GPA.

SHOOTING WOES: The Vikings shot a team Horizon League high .456 from the field at Detroit to appear to snap out of their worst shooting slump in the three seasons under Mike Garland. In the eight games prior to the Detroit contest, CSU managed to shoot better than 40-percent just once, going 171-for-455 from the field (.376). The Vikings remain last in the Horizon League in field goal offense (.405), the lowest figure by a CSU team since a .399 effort in 1971-72.

ANOTHER LINEUP SHUFFLE: Mike Garland ended a streak of nine straight games using the same starting lineup when he made a pair of changes to the opening group for the Detroit game. Luke Murphy and Victor Morris, who had combined to start just eight games this year, moved back into the starting squad, replacing Carlos English (18 starts) and J'Nathan Bullock (17 starts). The move appeared to have worked as Bullock broke out of a mild scoring slump to equal his career high with 21 points while English handed out seven assists with just one turnover.

PETTY THEFT: The emphasis on defense is illustrated well by the steal totals of the Vikings players. Not only is CSU leading the league averaging 8.6 steals a game, but five CSU players are averaging at least one steal a game. Carlos English leads the way with a league high 39 steals. Raheem Mos, Patrick Tatham and J'Nathan Bullock have 22 thefts each while Frashon McGee has 20.

REBOUNDING TO REBOUND: One statistic that puzzled Mike Garland early in the season was the ineffectiveness of the Vikings in rebounding, especially considering the emphasis that Garland places on that aspect of the game. In the first seven games, CSU had an advantage on the boards just once, being out-rebounded by an average of 9.4 rebounds a game. The Viking turned things around in the last 13 contests, owning a +2.5 rebounding margin and grabbing more rebounds than their opponents in nine of the 13 games.

. . . COULD IT BE THE IJE FACTOR? The turnaround of the Viking rebounding effort coincides perfectly with Ije Nwankwo becoming eligible following his transfer from Purdue. Nwankwo may only rank second on the team averaging 5.4 rebounds a game, but the addition of him to the lineup may have given the rest of the Vikings the boost they needed.

McGEE BECOMES THE SIXTH MAN: The Vikings have received a big boost this year from the all-around play off the bench by senior Frashon McGee. He leads the team in rebounding (5.8) and field goal percentage (36-71, .507), and is second on the squad in blocks (11) and fifth in steals (20). He has averaged 6.7 rebounds over the last 10 games, including a career-high 10 boards against Butler, to move up to 10th in the Horizon League in rebounding. Included in his totals was a career game against Wright State on Jan. 5 when he made all four of his field goal and all four of his free throw attempts en route to scoring a career-high 14 points while adding seven rebounds, two steals and a block.

. . . AND McGEE & HENDERSON LIKE THEIR ROLES: Evidence of the leadership ability of Frashon McGee came just before the holiday break when he, along with fellow senior Justin Henderson, approached Mike Garland with the request to spend part of each practice playing on the scout team. The request came because both McGee and Henderson, who had each settled into reserve roles at that point in the year, were confident that they would be ready for whatever role that Garland called them to fill and they wanted to help make the starting unit better.

THE DEFENSE NEVER RESTS: True to the words of head coach Mike Garland, the Vikings have used a blue-collar defensive work ethic to win games this year. Evidence of this is that CSU enters the weekend leading the Horizon League in three of the biggest defensive categories -- field goal defense (.420), three-point defense (.299) and steals (8.6) -- while ranking third in blocks (3.2).

. . . DEFENSE IS ON A RECORD PACE: Through 20 games, the Vikings are on a pace defensively to challenge a pair of school records. CSU has limited its opponents to just .420 shooting from the field (445-1,061), which is just off the school record of .415 for a season set in 2001-02. The story is the same around the perimeter where the current three-point field goal defense of .299 (90-304) is just ahead of the school record of .300 (134-447) set in 1993-94.

NWANKWO SETTLES IN: It has taken junior center Ije Nwankwo a couple of games to get settled, but his play of late has ignited the Vikings at both ends of the court. Over the last six games, Nwankwo has averaged 13.3 points and 6.7 rebounds, shooting .490 from the field (25-51) and .698 from the line (30-43).

. . . AND RANKING IJE: Junior Ije Nwankwo will not qualify for the Horizon League statistical rankings this year because by missing eight games early in the year, he will not be able to play in the required 75 percent of CSU's games. Nwankwo, who has played in 12 of the 20 games (60.0 percent), would rank sixth in blocks (0.9), 13th in rebounding (5.4) and 19th in scoring (10.9).

TATHAM GETS NEW STARTING ROLE: After starting at center in 39 games during his first three seasons at CSU, junior Patrick Tatham received a different assignment starting with the Jan. 2 game at UW-Milwaukee when he started at small forward. The change came when Mike Garland inserted Ije Nwankwo into the starting lineup at center, allowing Tatham to move to his more natural position. Small forward is nothing new to Tatham, who has seen time at the spot this year when Justin Henderson or Renard Fields were in the game.

THE PROOF IS IN THE MINUTES: The depth of the Vikings this year is evident in the playing rotation. CSU currently has 10 players averaging 9.0 minutes or more a game with nine of the 10 Vikings having seen action in at least all but two games this year. Victor Morris (24.5 mpg) and Frashon McGee (21.1), who have been used mostly off the bench this season, are two of the seven players averaging more than 20 minutes a game.

THE BABY BULL-OCK: Freshman forward J'Nathan Bullock is living up to the expectations that has made him one of the top newcomers on the team this year. Bullock is third on the team in scoring (10.5), posting double figure scoring efforts 11 times this year. Although he has started 17 games, he has had some of his best efforts off the bench. He matched his career high with 21 points at Detroit, going seven-for-11 from the field and seven-for-10 from the line. Earlier this year, he led CSU with 15 points, six rebounds and three steals at North Carolina (Nov. 22). As a starter, he originally set his career high with 21 points at Kent State on Dec. 3 and later posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds against Utah Valley State on Dec. 20