Cleveland State Falls to Detroit 88-80 in Horizon League Hoops

DETROIT – Rob Edwards scored a career-high 26 points and Cleveland State shot 50-percent from the floor, but the Vikings fell at Detroit, 88-80, in Horizon League action on Monday night at Calihan Hall.

The loss drops CSU to 5-10 overall and 0-2 in the Horizon League, while the Titans move to 8-5 this year (2-0 HL) and remain perfect at home (8-0).

Edwards, who had an old career-high of 21 points, made 10-of-18 from the floor and 3-of-5 from three-point, while adding four rebounds. Andre Yates finished with 14 points, while Kenny Carpenter added eight points and four rebounds.

Vinny Zollo grabbed eight rebounds, the seventh time in the last eight games he has had at least eight boards. Terrell Hales added four points, six rebounds and three assists.

Paris Bass led the Titans with 28 points and 13 rebounds, while Anton Wilson scored 19 points as the Titans finished 28-of-42 at the free throw line.

In a first half that featured nine ties and three lead changes, it was only fitting that the teams went into the locker room deadlocked at 42.

Edwards paced the Vikings with 19 first half points, while the Titans used a 13-of-19 performance at the free throw line and scored 15 points off 10 CSU turnovers in the opening half.

The contest was tied at 52-52 just over four minutes into the second half when the Titans used a pair of Wilson three-pointers and a three-pointer and dunk by Bass to open up a 63-54 lead with 12 minutes to play.

CSU would battle back, cutting the lead to as little as five (85-80) on a Derek Sloan layup with 1:27 to play, but Detroit was strong as the free throw line down the stretch to seal the win.

CSU finished 29-of-58 (.500) from the field, but was just 15-of-23 (.652) at the free throw line

The Vikings are back in action on Thursday (Jan. 7) when CSU plays its first Horizon League game of the season at home, hosting Green Bay at 7:30 pm. The game will be televised on Time Warner SportsChannel and is a doubleheader with the CSU women hosting Green Bay at 5:30 pm.