Jan. 8, 2005
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Contact: Brian McCann
CLEVELAND -- Cleveland State can give the Convocation Center maintenance crew an assist in its 78-62 win over Youngstown State on Saturday night. The start of the game was delayed 15 minutes because of a malfunctioning scoreboard, but in the end it correctly displayed that the Vikings had ended their 23-game Horizon League regular season losing streak.
Omari Westley scored a season-high 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting and Raheem Moss added 16 on the strength of four three-pointers as the Vikings not only snapped their seven-game losing streak, but won a league game for the first time since defeating the Penguins on Feb. 13, 2003.
Mike Redell and Justin Henderson gave CSU four players in double-figures as both chipped in 10 points.
Brian Radakovich paced YSU with 14 points, while Derrick Harris and Quin Humphrey added 13 and 12 points, respectively.
"We have been here (big second half leads) so many times before that it is about time that we got one," head coach Mike Garland said.
"Everything came together in the second half when we really did a nice job of getting the ball inside to Omari. We realized that once we got the ball into his hands, everything seemed to get easier.
"In hindsight, the injuries that we went through early in the season allowed us to find out who we should be playing. We moved some players around out of necessity and that made us a better team.
"One of the moves we made was to put Mike Redell in the lineup at point guard. He was never shaken, rattled or rolled during the game and when the game came down the stretch, he was the guy we wanted to have the ball. His emergence also allowed us to play him at the same time with Walt (Chavis) and that duo creates some interesting offensive options.
Cleveland State shot a season-high 51.1 percent from the floor, while holding the Penguins to a 35.8 mark, including a 10-for-32 (31.3 percent) performance as the Vikings pulled away in the second half.
CSU held a 33-28 advantage on the boards as Westley led the way with eight. The Vikings also set season-highs for free throws made (24) and percentage (85.7) with Redell knocking down all 10 of his attempts from the charity stripe.
The teams traded baskets early on as there were four lead changes and three ties in the first eight minutes of the game.
Leading just 19-17 at the 10:25 mark, the Vikings gave themselves some breathing room with a 9-0 run over the next four minutes. Westley contributed a pair of baskets in the paint and Moss capped the burst off with a three-pointer.
However, Westley, who led CSU with 10 points in the first half, picked up his second foul just a minute later and was forced to sit for the final five minutes. YSU took advantage of his absence and trimmed the deficit to 39-35 at the break.
The Vikings shot 54.2 percent in the opening 20 minutes thanks to 18 points in the paint and held a 17-9 lead on the boards, but failed to build a larger lead as YSU knocked down five of its nine three-point attempts and 12-of-13 from the free throw line.
The Penguins reclaimed the lead just two minutes into the second stanza with five unanswered points. However, Westley and Moss combined again to push CSU back on top -- this time to stay.
Westley bookended a Moss lay-in and three-pointer with a jumper and two dunks and Justin Henderson finished off the 14-4 burst with a conventional three-point play to give the Vikings a 53-44 advantage with 13:37 remaining.
Youngstown State hung around until under the 8:00 minute mark when Westley fueled a 6-0 burst to effectively put the game out of reach at 70-56.
With the victory, the Vikings improved to 4-7 overall and 1-2 in the Horizon League. The Penguins dropped to 3-11 and 1-4 in the league.
Cleveland State embarks on a four-game league road trip when the Vikings head to UW-Green Bay on Monday, Jan. 11. CSU also plays at UIC (Jan. 15) and at UW-Milwaukee (Jan. 20) before closing out the season series with Youngstown State on Jan. 22.
