Men's Basketball Scoreboard (Feb. 3):
Cleveland State 65, Loyola 47
Cleveland State shot .676 (25-37) from the field, the third highest percentage in school history, and four players scored in double figures as the Vikings won at Loyola, 65-47, on Friday night in Gentile Arena.
The win improved CSU to 19-4 overall and maintained the Vikings hold on first place in the Horizon League at 11-2. Loyola fell to 5-17 overall and 0-11 in league play.
Today's game marked the 500th career game as a head coach for CSU's Gary Waters and his 290th career victory in his 16 years as a head coach.
Jeremy Montgomery led all scorers with 16 points in his return to his native Chicago, hitting 3-of-4 from three-point. Aaron Pogue, Anton Grady and Trey Harmon scored 10 points each. For Grady, it was the eighth time in 11 league games that he reached double figures, all coming as a reserve. He added three blocked shots.
The Vikings built a 26-18 halftime lead by shooting .588 (10-17) from the floor. But Cleveland State was even better in the second half, hitting 15-of-20 (.750) from the floor.
The Vikings jumped out to a 20-12 lead on Montgomery's three-pointer at the 11:25 mark of the first half. However, neither team could muster a point until Loyola's Chim Kadima's dunk at the 4:55 mark. But Grady followed with a three-point play to push the lead back to nine points (23-14).
The Ramblers answered with a free throw and three-pointer before a Montgomery three gave CSU a 26-18 halftime lead.
Harmon, who played just five minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, got the Vikings going early in the second half as his driving layup and three-pointer in the first 45 seconds of the half gave CSU a 31-18 lead and forced a quick Loyola timeout.
Harmon's quick start to the second half helped start a 17-5 run over the first seven minutes that put the Vikings up by 20 points (43-23).
The Ramblers got to within 14 points (47-33) with just under eight minutes to play, but CSU responded with a 13-6 run over the next five minutes to pull back ahead by 21 points (60-39) and seal the win.
It was the sixth time that the Vikings held an opponent under 50 points this year and the second time that Loyola failed to break 50 points against CSU after the Vikings held the Ramblers to 45 points in a win at the Wolstein Center in January.
The only times a CSU team shot better in a game than tonight both came in 1979. The Vikings went 37-of-54 (685) against George Mason on Feb. 5, 1979, and were 36-of-53 (.679) versus St. Francis (Pa.) on Feb. 1, 1979.
Joe Crismanled Loyola with 14 points. Loyola played without leading scorer Ben Averkamp, who was out with an injury.
Tags: Cleveland State - Men's Basketball · Horizon League - Men's Basketball · Loyola - Men's Basketball
