Jan. 27, 2007
Final Stats
Contact: Brian McCann
CHICAGO, Illinois - Bahaadar Russell scored 15 points, including nine of the Vikings last 12 points, as Cleveland State claimed a 60-55 win over UIC on Saturday afternoon in the UIC Pavilion.
Cleveland State won for just the second time in nine Horizon League games this season, improving to 8-14 overall. UIC dropped to 9-13 overall and 4-4 in conference play.
The game was a slow-paced affair as UIC played with just seven players because of assorted reasons while the Vikings had just eight scholarship players on hand.
Russell posted his fourth straight double-figure game, leading CSU with 15 points and a season-high six steals while J'Nathan Bullock added 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Jovan Stefanov led the Flames with 23 points and 11 rebounds, but was just seven-for-23 shooting from the field. Othyus Jeffers added 17 points and 15 rebounds while Scott VanderMeer nearly recorded a triple-double, finishing with seven points, 12 rebounds and nine blocked shots.
"This is a good win for us because it came on the road and in a building that is very difficult to play in," head coach Gary Waters said. "UIC was playing a little short-handed, but so were we.
"I thought that we took control of the game early in the second half and even though we were never able to pull away, we played at our speed and at our tempo and didn't allow them to take control.
"I'm proud of my team. The last month or so has been very difficult because we have been limited to the point where our won-loss record is not reflective of our effort and performance. We had a chance to win a game today and our guys came ready to play and refused to fold down the stretch.
Cleveland State ran off six of the first seven points of the second half to break open a 28-28 halftime tie. The Vikings trailed only once in the final 17 minutes, that coming when Stefanov buried a long three-pointer from the left side to put the Flames ahead, 49-48 with 2:57 left.
The lead would last just 12 seconds as UIC would leave Russell unguarded at the top of the key and the sophomore connected on his third trey of the game to give the Vikings the lead for good, 51-49 with 2:45 remaining.
"That was a big shot for us," Waters said. "In the last 10 games or so, we have not responded well when a team took a lead from us in the second half but that wasn't the case tonight. Bahaadar hit that shot and we built on that effort down the stretch."
Russell's trey would prove to be the final field goal for CSU as the Vikings took the play to the Flames down the stretch and forced them to send CSU to the foul line.
After the teams traded free throws, Bullock made a pair with 1:22 left to put CSU ahead, 54-50 and Russell made the lead six with a pair of charity tosses with 41 seconds left.
UIC would run off four straight points, the first two coming on a layup by Stefanov with 36 seconds left. On the ensuing inbounds, the Vikings appeared to be headed for a breakaway layup, but Raheem Moss missed the shot and was called for a foul on the rebound. Stefanov made both free throws, pulling the Flames to within 56-54 with 27 second left.
But Russell took control after that, holding onto the ball to force a foul on the inbounds and make both subsequent free throws to push the lead to 58-54.
Jeffers was fouled on the offensive glass at the other end but could only make one of the two free throws and Russell was again fouled on the inbounds, making both free throws with 10.2 seconds left to close out the scoring.
"If you want to win on the road, you can't turn the ball over and you have to make your free throws," Waters said of the Vikings who committed a season-low eight turnovers and shot .824 from the line (14-17). "We won today because we took care of both things."
Waters also praised the performance of junior Breyohn Watson, who held UIC's T.J. Gray scoreless on five field goal attempts despite entering the game averaging 12.3 points a game. Offensively, Watson addedsseven points and handed out a career-high five assists.
"Breyohn did a nice job shutting Gray down today," Waters said. "We thought that going into the game that UIC was short on outside shooters and that if we could keep Gray in check, that we would stand a good chance of winning. Breyohn's bigger than Gray and that size difference really flustered him."
UIC made just 16 of its 60 field goal attempts (.267), the lowest shooting percentage by a CSU opponent this year. The Flames were just two-for-12 from three-point. CSU wasn't much better, shooting .333 from the field (20-60), but a four-for-eight effort from three-point in the second half proved to be a difference maker.
The Flames had a distinct edge at the foul line, going 21-for-30 (.700) but the Vikings made their final eight attempts in the last 1:22 of the contest.
The win marked the second straight year that the Vikings won in Chicago, improving CSU's record to 28-31 against UIC overall and 14-15 in the windy city.
Cleveland State remains on the road to close its final multi-city road trip of the year, playing at three-time defending Horizon League champion UW-Milwaukee on Monday (Jan. 29) at 8:00 p.m.
