Final Stats
Contact: Greg Murphy
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CLEVELAND, Ohio - Anton Grady scored 17 points with 10 rebounds and Tim Kamczyc added 12 points and 12 rebounds as Cleveland State defeated Malone, 79-70, in an exhibition contest on Tuesday night in the Wolstein Center.
The Vikings, who lost four senior starters from last year's NIT squad, started Kamczyc, the lone senior on this year's team, and four sophomores - Grady, Charlie Lee, Sebastian Douglas andMarlin Mason.
Mason finished with 11 points and four rebounds, while Douglas had six points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Lee dished out seven assists to go with six points and three steals.
The Vikings also received good production from their bench, including the freshmen duo of Josh Ivory and Bryn Forbes.
Forbes scored 14 points with six rebounds, while Ivory had nine points and five boards.
The Vikings trailed at halftime, 41-29, but used a strong second half surge to rally for the win, outscoring the Pioneers, 50-29, in the final 20 minutes.
CSU was still trailing by eight (49-41) six minutes into the second half, but a 14-6 run over the next four minutes allowed the Vikings to tie the contest at 55-55. It was the first tie of the night.
Malone answered with five of the next seven points to reclaim a 60-57 lead, but an offensive rebound and putback by
Devon Longand a three-point play by Mason put CSU ahead, 64-60 at the 7:57 mark.
CSU did not trail the rest of the night, using timely free throw shooting down the stretch to seal the win.
Isiah Elliott led Malone with 21 points.
The Vikings open the regular season on Friday (Nov. 9) when CSU hosts Grambling at 7:30 p.m. in the John McLendon Game. It is a doubleheader with the CSU women hosting South Dakota at 5:00 p.m.
