Jan. 3, 2008

Final Stats |  Quotes |  Notes

Contact: Brian McCann

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Viking men's basketball team ran their Horizon League record to 2-0 following a hard-earned 63-55 win over Loyola on Thursday evening at the Wolstein Center.

The win, along with Youngstown State's win over UIC on the same night, puts Cleveland State in a first place tie with Valparaiso in the Horizon League standings.

The Vikings began the game in a funk, falling to a 8-0 early deficit while starting the first half shooting 0-for-8 from the field. After Renard Fields tipped in a missed Kevin Francis shot at the 12:22 mark, however, Cleveland State made seven of its next 10 attempts from the field, eventually gaining a 20-17 advantage with 5:08 left in the first half, which would prove to be the game's only lead change.

"You are not going to go 0-for-tomorrow," head coach Gary Waters said, "The thing I kept stressing was that we had to keep defending.

After shaking off their early game troubles, it was defense that turned the game in the Vikings' favor. After Loyola's Tracy Robinson completed a three-point play, sinking his free throw to make the score 17-9 with Loyola leading, Cleveland State went on a 15-2 run to close out the first half, going into the locker room with a 24-19 lead at the break.

Leading the way for the Vikings in the second half was Francis, who scored all but three of his team leading 14 points in the final period, including a team and season high 4-of-5 beyond the arc. He clearly was a beneficiary of Coach Waters' game plan.

"I told them to make the extra pass," Waters said, "Because we were taking the first opportunity, and you are never going to get the best shot with the first opportunity. It's the second offensive rebound that gets you the best percentage."

Another second half star for the Vikings was J'Nathan Bullock, who went into halftime with only two points, but by game's end had tallied 12 points, slamming the door on the Ramblers with 10 in the final 5:06 of the game. Only two of his 12 points came from the field, as he sunk a game high 10-of-12 free throws to go with a team-leading seven rebounds.

Bullock's late game effort was timely, as Loyola was able to close their deficit to two following a made tip-in by Darrin Williams, making the score 52-50 with 3:33 remaining in the game. Thanks to Bullock's efforts, that would be the closest that the Ramblers would come to regaining the lead, as he scored eight of the Vikings' 11 points to close out the game, which ended on a 11-5 run from the 3:33 mark on.

Cedric Jackson had yet another solid game for the Vikings as he paced the team with 10 points, four rebounds, six assists, and three steals.

For the Ramblers, who clearly missed regular starting power forward Leon Young (12.7 ppg, 7.1 rpg), who didn't make the trip due to illness, it was Darrin Williams who led the way, scoring a game high 21 points on 8-for-11 shooting, including 5-for-6 on free throws.

The Vikings continue their current home stand as they return to action this Saturday, January 5, 2008 against the University of Illinois at Chicago Flames, with game action starting at 7:30 p.m.