Cleveland State Clinches Key Road Victory

#HLMBB Scoreboard (Feb. 6)
Cleveland State 92, Oakland 85

Cleveland State 92, Oakland 85
Charlie Lee scored a career-high 31 points and Cleveland State made 14 3-pointers to overcome record-setting long-range shooter Travis Bader and Oakland's 15 3-pointers for a 92-85 win Thursday night

Lee, whose previous career-high was 22 points, hit 7-of-10 from the field, including 6-of-8 from three-point, and made all 11 of his free throws to become the first CSU player to score 30 points since Norris Cole tallied 35 points at Old Dominion in February of 2011.

Lee also had six assists.

CSU (16-9, 7-3 Horizon) shot 60 percent overall, 60.9 from 3-point range, while the Golden Grizzlies (9-16, 4-6) shot 54.2 percent overall, 51.7 from 3-point range.

The game was tied with 3:35 left. Two 3-pointers put the Vikings up six. Bader was fouled on a 3-point try and made three free throws with 53 seconds left, but six straight free throws by Lee clinched the victory.

Jon Harris scored 19 points with six rebounds. He has reached double-figures 13 times this year, tied for the most double-digit scoring games by a CSU reserve in a season. Trey Lewis tallied 16 points and five assists, while Bryn Forbes added 11 points.

Anton Grady chipped in seven points and nine rebounds.

The teams combined to hit 29 three-pointers, including 15 from Oakland and 14 for CSU. It is the most and second most three's in a game in the league this year.

Travis Bader led Oakland with 35 points, hitting 10-of-13 from three-point.

Dante Williams scored 21 points for the Golden Grizzlies, making a career-best 9 of 14 shots from the floor. He added a career-high five assists in the game.

Oakland used the hot three-point shooting from Travis Bader to open up a nine point lead (27-18) 11 minutes in, but Lewis answered with a three-pointer of his own and followed with three free throws after being fouled on a three attempt to start a 10-0 run that gave the Vikings a 28-27 lead with just over six minutes to play in the half.

The CSU lead reached 35-30 when Grady split a pair of free throws with 3:54 to play, but an 8-2 spurt by Oakland allowed them to regain a 38-27 lead with 2:08 to play. But Douglas grabbed an offensive rebound off his own miss and scored on a put-back as the Vikings closed the half with eight straight points to take a 45-38 lead into the locker room.

However, Oakland would gain a 61-52 lead just seven minutes into the second half and still held an eight point lead (76-68) with 6:27 to play. But Lee answered with a three-pointer that ignited an 18-4 CSU run over the next five minutes – capped by a Lee three-pointer from 30 feet out that gave CSU an 86-80 lead with 1:11 left.

Bader was fouled on a three-point attempt on the next trip down and hit all three free throws to cut the CSU lead back to three, but Lee made all six of his free throws down the stretch to seal a key road win.