Vikings Take Down First Place Wright State 77-74

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cleveland State tied a single game program record with 14 three-pointers as the Vikings knocked off Horizon League leading Wright State, 77-74, on Thursday night at the Wolstein Center.

The Vikings moved to 6-18 overall and 3-8 in the League, while WSU fell to 17-7 overall (9-2 HL).

***story provided by CSU***

STAT LEADERS

• Bobby Word scored 18 points, hitting 5-of-10 from three-point.
• Tyree Appleby finished with 17 points, four rebounds and two steals.
• Kenny Carpenter added 14 points, four rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals.
• Stefan Kenic scored eight points, while Kasheem Thomas contributed seven points, six rebounds and four assists.
• Jamarcus Hairston tallied seven points and seven rebounds.
• Dontel Highsmith had six points and three assists.

COACH SPEAK

• “That was a terrific win over a great Wright State team that we have a ton of respect for. It was a great team win with contributions from everyone. We were solid at both ends of the court and were very good on the offensive end. This was the type of performance we were hoping for and we got it and were able to finish it.”
  – Head Coach Dennis Felton

FIRST HALF RECAP

• The Vikings hit three of their first four three pointers to take a 9-2 lead in the early going, but the Raiders responded with a 12-2 run to take a 14-11 lead at the 11:09 mark.
• A Kenic layup started a 16-2 run for the Vikings over the next five minutes to open up an 11 point lead (27-16) with just over six minutes to play.
• WSU cut the lead to three (33-30) on a pair of free throws with 46 seconds to play, but Word answered with a three-pointer and after a Raider turnover, Carpenter hit a 60-footer just before the buzzer to give the Vikings a 39-30 lead halftime.

SECOND HALF RECAP

• CSU continued its hot shooting to start the second half as three-pointers from Appleby, Word, Carpenter and Thomas helped the Vikings open up a 15 point lead (54-39) with 14:45 to play.
• The Raiders came back with a 25-6 run over the next eight-plus minutes to take a 66-62 lead with just under six minutes to play.
• A pair of free throws from Appleby and a transition three-pointer by Word from Thomas gave CSU a 67-66 lead at the 4:00 mark.
• A three-pointer from Word pushed the lead to four points (70-66) with 3:17 to play and the lead reached five points (74-69) on a pair of Appleby free throws with 1:26 to play.
• The Raiders cut the lead to one points (74-73) with 37 seconds to play and after each team split a pair of free throws, Kenic hit two free throws with 7.9 seconds left to give CSU a 77-74 lead.
• The Raiders had a chance to tie the game, but Parker Ernsthausen’s three from the wing was long.

KEY STATS

• The Vikings finished 25-of-51 (.490) from the floor, including 14-of-32 (.438) from three-point.
• It’s the eighth time in program history and the fourth time this year that the Vikings have hit 14 threes.
• CSU scored 17 points off 13 Raider turnovers.
• Tonight was the ninth one possession game of the season for CSU and the fifth in Horizon League play. CSU is 4-5 in those games.

UP NEXT

• CSU is back in action on Saturday (Feb. 3) when the Vikings host Northern Kentucky at 3:00 pm in the Wolstein Center.