Dec. 8, 2004
Final Stats
Contact: Brian McCann
AKRON -- Cleveland State rallied from a 12-point second half deficit to take the lead in the final four minutes but couldn't hold it as Akron outscored the Vikings 14-9 down the stretch in a 79-75 Akron win in Rhodes Arena.
Modibo Niakate and Steve Gansey came off the bench to lead CSU offensively, scoring 25 and 17 points, respectively while Darryl Peterson paced the Zips with 23 points.
The Vikings seemed to be battling uphill all night, losing starting forward Raheem Moss to an ankle sprain in the second minute and having Omari Westley and Niakate spend considerable minutes on the bench in foul trouble. Westley, who was averaging a double-double going into the game, played just seven minutes and didn't score his first points until the final four minutes of the game.
CSU held several one-point leads in the first four minutes, the last a 7-6 advantage with 16:26 left.
After Gansey buried a long three-pointer to pull the Vikings to within one (17-16) with 12:27 left, the Zips responded with a 12-3 spurt to open up a 29-19 lead with 7:04 left in the half.
The Viking rattled off 10 straight points to knot the score at 29-29 wutg 4:56 left. Niakate started the run with a layup in transition, Justin Henderson, who came off the bench to score 12 points, followed with a pair of free throws and Walt Chavis and Gansey closed the run with back-to-back treys.
Akron refused to allow the Vikings to take the lead, gradually pulling away for a 40-34 lead at the half and extended the advantage to 58-46 with 13:02 left.
The Vikings stormed back again, scoring 11 straight points, six coming on back-to-back threes by Gansey, to pull to within 58-57 with 8:07 left.
Westley, who finished with a season-low six points and five rebounds, returned to the lineup at the five-minute mark and immediately provided a spark. With CSU trailing 65-62, Westley scored four straight points, including a layup with 4:13 left that put the Vikings ahead 66-65.
But that would be CSU's last lead of the game as Akron's Jeremiah Woods and Mario Collins each scored baskets to put the Zips ahead for good.
Akron, which made just 14 of its first 24 foul shots in the game was deadly down the stretch, making all eight free throws in the final minutes to pull away for good.
With Niakate, Gansey and henderson scoring in double figures, the Viking bench was outstanding, scoring a season-high 52 points.
The Vikings connected on 10 of its 22 three-point attempts (.455) and shot a season-high .789 from the line (15-19), but 21 turnovers and a 39 pecent shooting from two-point hurt them offensively.
The loss dropped the Vikings to 3-1 on the year while Akron improved to 4-2.
Cleveland State returns home to host Kent State on Saturday beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the Convocation Center.
