Dec. 20, 2003
Box Score| Quotes| Notes
CLEVELAND - A layup by Akron's Derrick Tarver with five seconds left sent the Vikings to a 61-59 loss on Saturday afternoon at the CSU Convocation Center. Jermaine Robinson scored 19 points, giving him 1,004 for his career, while Omari Westley also scored 19 and pulled down 14 rebounds, his fourth double-double of the season, for the Vikings (4-4). Tarver led the Zips (5-2) with 19 points.
The Vikings led 59-56 with 22 seconds to play on a layup by Percell Coles before Tarver hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 59 with 12 seconds left. A turnover by Walt Chavis led to a scramble for the loose ball, which Akron picked up and passed ahead to Tarver, who layed in the game-winner. After a Cleveland State timeout, Robinson got off a three-pointer that fell short as time expired.
"I thought we allowed a great opportunity to slip away," head coach Mike Garland said. "On the defensive end, I thought we were outstanding, but they made plays down the stretch to win the game."
The Vikings led 22-21 at the break behind 11 points from Robinson and eight from Westley. Neither team shot well in the first half, as the Vikings made just seven of their 28 shots (25 percent), while Akron connected on just 18.9 percent of its shots (7-37). Jeremiah Wood put the Zips on top with a jumper 1:02 into the game, but a 7-0 run by the Vikings, keyed by three pointers by Robinson and Coles put the Vikings ahead until Akron took a 21-20 lead with 39 seconds left in the half on a Wood tip-in.
The Zips came out hitting their first four shots of the second period to take a six point lead, their largest of the game. The Vikings fought back, going on a 10-0 run over a three and a half minute span to go ahead by eight, 53-45, with 4:38 to play.
Robinson scored a layup with 14:00 remaining to give him 1,000 points for his career, becoming the 16th player in school history to score 1,000 points. He would score four more points to finish with 19.
Cleveland State returns to the road on Monday when they play at Boston University at 7 p.m., a game that can be seen on Fox Sports Ohio.
