CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cleveland State (1-1) opened home play with a convincing 103-79 victory against UM-Dearborn (2-2) on Friday night.
The Vikings finished with four double-digit scorers, led by
Rayvon Griffith with 34 points on 13-of-20 shooting.
Micah Bays came off the bench with 18 points, and
Jordan Lowery was close behind with 15 points.
Curtis Stinson Jr. rounded out the scorers with ten points off the bench.
Cleveland State pulled down 36 rebounds in the game with
Gavin Headings having a game-best eight off the bench. Lowery and Bays each had a team-best five assists.
The defense forced 16 turnovers in the game with Griffith and
Alex Bruskotter having two apiece.
The opening half featured ten lead changes, but it was the Green and White that took a 47-40 advantage into the break. Griffith led the scoring with 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting.
The largest lead for the Wolverines in the opening half was 28-20 at the 7:51 mark. However, the next four minutes belonged to Cleveland State, outscoring their opponents 19-7, which was capped off with a 7-0 run to regain a 38-35 advantage with 3:32 to go in the half.
Following a Wolverine bucket, Griffith took over with seven consecutive CSU points to lead 45-40 at the 1:08 mark. A pair of Lowery free throws made it 47-40 at the half.
The Vikings started the second half with a 12-5 spurt to extend the margin to 59-45 with 17:11 left in regulation.
Alex Bruskotter led the charge with four points. Michigan Dearborn trimmed the deficit to ten, 62-52, when back-to-back buckets by Griffith followed by a Lowery layup made it 68-52 with 13:26 to go.
The Wolverines got it down to 76-66 with 9:01 showing when a 7-0 run turned into a 13-3 burst to lead 89-69 with 5:37 left in the game. Cleveland State continued to cruise down the stretch, winning the home opener, 103-79.
The 100+ point game for the Green and White was the third under coach
Rob Summers and the second most in his two seasons.
Cleveland State will have a quick turnaround with a trip to Bowling Green on Monday, November 9 at 7 p.m.
