Feb. 2, 2006

Final Stats

Contact: Brian McCann

DETROIT, Mich. -- Brandon Cotton scored 30 points, including 25 in the second half, and the Titans outscored the Vikings, 31-14 at the foul line as Detroit (11-13, 5-6) snapped Cleveland State's three-game Horizon League road winning streak, winning 84-73 in Calihan Hall.

The loss dropped CSU to 0-18 all-time at Detroit, including an 0-17 mark in Calihan Hall.

After struggling offensively over the last half dozen games, the Vikings (8-12, 4-6 HL) came out and improved on all of the areas that had slowed them. CSU set team high against league opponents for field goal percentage (26-57, .456), three-point percentage (7-16, .438) and free throw percentage (14-19, .737), had a 30-28 advantage on the boards and turned the ball over just 13 times.

"We did a lot of the things that we needed to do tonight in order to win, but when we needed to rally in the last five minutes, Brandon Cotton refused to open the door for us," CSU head coach Mike Garland said.

"We were put into a situation late where we need to foul, and Detroit just didn't miss. That makes it very hard to mount a comeback, even though we were just down two or four points.

"Detroit is a veteran team and veteran teams know what to do when the game is on the line. They put the ball in Cotton's hands and he came through for them tonight."

The game was a physical affair as the two teams combined to attempt 53 free throws and commit 44 fouls, including four technicals.

J'Nathan Bullock, who did not start for the first time in 18 games, led CSU with a career-high 21 points. He was seven-for-11 from the field and seven-for-10 from the line.

"We challenged J'Nathan and the rest of the players to perform better at the foul line and they came through tonight with a strong effort," Garland said.

The first 35 minutes of the game featured 11 ties and 10 lead changes, the last tie coming when J'Nathan Bullock, who equaled his career high with 21 points, scored inside to knot the score at 64-64 with 5:20 left.

That basket followed a bizarre seven-point possession by the Vikings that allowed CSU to go from trailing by five to leading, 61-59 with 6:38 left.

The play started with Bullock scoring on a driving lay-up with Detroit's Chuck Hayes being called for a foul. After the play, Chuck Bailey was whistled for a technical foul. Bullock completed the old-fashioned three-point play and Victor Morris made both technical shots to tie the game at 59-59 with 6:53 left. Cleveland State was mistakenly awarded possession following the free throws and Morris completed the seven-point possession by hitting an acrobatic jumper in the lane.

Cotton took over after that, scoring 12 of the Titans' final 20 points, including a 10-for-12 effort from the line that allowed him to tie Detroit school records for free throws made (19) and attempted (22) in a game.

Cotton broke the tie by making the first of two free throws. He missed the second, but Torvoris Baker tipped it in to put the Titans ahead, 67-64 with 4:59 left. On the ensuing possession, Cotton made a steal and converted both free throws after being fouled going to the basket .

CSU would come no closer than three points the rest of the way with Detroit scoring its final nine points from the line.

"I can't fault our effort tonight," Garland said. "This is a tough place to play and Detroit is a good team. Things just didn't go our way at the end."

Garland shook up the starting lineup for the first time in nine games, starting Luke Murphy at power forward in place of Bullock and inserting Victor Morris into the point guard spot with Carlos English coming off the bench for only the second time this year.

"We took a hard look at our combinations and found that at different times in the game, we had similar players in the game and that tended to limit us. The changes proved to be positive ones tonight because all four players affected played well," Garland said.

Jon Goode made four of his eight three-point attempts to finish with18 points while Baker chipped in with 14 points and seven rebounds.

Raheem Moss added 11 points for CSU while Ije Nwankwo finished with 10 points and a game-high seven rebounds.

The Vikings traveled to Chicago immediately following the game and will square off with Loyola on Saturday (Feb. 4) beginning at 4:00 p.m. CST.