Vikings Fall to Green Bay 87-67 in CSU Horizon League Home Opener

CLEVELAND – Andre Yates scored 16 points, but Green Bay used 11 three-pointers to claim an 87-67 victory over Cleveland State in the Horizon League home opener for the Vikings on Thursday night in the Wolstein Center.

The Vikings fell to 5-11 overall and 0-3 in the Horizon League, while Green Bay improved to 10-5 overall and 3-0 in the League.

Vinny Zollo finished with 13 points and eight rebounds, notching at least eight rebounds for the eighth time in the last nine games. Tim Hasbargen added 11 points off the bench and Demonte Flannigan added 10 points and six rebounds.

Turner Botz scored a game-high 20 points to lead four Phoenix players in double figures.

“I thought we were great for the first four or five minutes, but we stunk after that,” head coach Gary Waters said. “We gave up way too much easy stuff today and are not going to win games like that. Turnovers were the story of the game. We had 23 and they scored 28 points off them. You can’t beat anyone like that.

“They really got it going from three-point. They are a free shooting team and it showed tonight.”

CSU opened the game on a 15-2 run, but the Phoenix chipped away and took their first lead of the game (29-28) on a three-pointer from Anthony Brown with 5:48 to play in the half. Green Bay continued the run with three consecutive baskets to open up a seven point lead (35-28), forcing a CSU timeout with just over four minutes left in the half.

The Phoenix lead reached 11 points (41-30) at halftime.

A jumper by Flannigan cut the Green Bay lead down to seven points (53-46) with 12:17 left, but the Phoenix answered with a 16-5 run over the next five minutes to open up a 69-51 lead.

The Vikings shot 26-of-56 (.464) from the floor, but were hurt by 23 turnovers which led to 28 Phoenix points. Green Bay shot 30-of-58 (.517) from the floor, including 11-of-21 (.524) from three-point.

The Vikings return to action on Saturday (Jan. 9) when CSU hosts Milwaukee at 3:00 pm in the Wolstein Center. It will be a doubleheader with the CSU women hosting Milwaukee at 1:00 pm.