Cleveland State, Green Bay, Loyola Leapfrog Standings on Saturday

Cleveland State, Green Bay and Loyola all climbed the Horizon League ladder with wins on Saturday.

Green Bay (10-9, 4-3 Horizon) got the day started on the right foot for the city, racing out to a 20-point halftime lead and holding UIC (5-14, 0-7 Horizon) under 40 percent shooting in a 74-50 victory at the Resch Center.

The Phoenix limited the Flames to 39.2 percent shooting, the fifth straight game that Green Bay has held an opponent under the 40-percent mark.  Locking down the perimeter, Green Bay held UIC without a three-pointer, the first time since 1999 that the Phoenix pulled the feat.

Offensively, Rahmon Fletcher paced the Phoenix with 20 points, scoring 10 of the team's first 12 points and 20 for the game; fellow senior Bryquis Perine chipped in 16, while Alec Brown registered a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards.  UIC was led by Paul Carter, who recorded his league-best fourth double-double in conference play with 11 points and 12 rebounds.  Brad Birton added 12 for the Flames.

The victory pushed the Phoenix past Milwaukee (9-10, 4-4 Horizon), for fifth place in the League, after Loyola (11-8, 2-6 Horizon) overcame an early 13-point deficit to record a 71-65 win over the Panthers in the Horizon League Game of the Week.

Trailing by six at halftime, Ben Averkamp and Andy Polka fueled a game-changing 16-4 run to start the second half, putting the Ramblers out front, 46-40.  Loyola did not trail the rest of the way, as Geoff McCammon drilled a step-back three shortly after a Tone Boyle triple had closed the Panthers' deficit to a single point with 8:46 to play.  McCammon finished with 21 points, keeping the Ramblers in the game with 14 points in the game's first 20 minutes.

Averkamp had 10 of his 12 in the second half, while Polka finished the night with 10.  Terrance Hill added 13, closing the game out at the free-throw line.

Anthony Hill carried Milwaukee's offensive load, posting 19 points; Kaylon Williams helped the Panthers stick around in the second half, knocking down three triples and finishing with 17 points, six rebounds and six assists.

Loyola hopped Youngstown State (7-10, 1-7 Horizon) for eighth place with the win, as the Penguins dropped a 61-51 contest to Cleveland State (16-3, 5-2 Horizon) at the Beeghly Center.  The Vikings shot just 32 percent in the game, but limited YSU to 37-percent shooting and outrebounded the Penguins, 44-32.

The trio of Norris Cole, Trevon Harmon and Jeremy Montgomery carried Cleveland State, as the three combined for 49 of the team's 61 points.  Cole led the way with a game-high 21 points, the 10th time this season he has cleared 20.  Harmon scored 13 of his 16 in the second half, while Montgomery added 12.

Cole went 9-of-10 from the free-throw line, part of a team effort that saw the Vikings go 20-of-23 on the night; the Penguins were just 11-for-21 from the charity stripe.  The win moved Cleveland State into third place in the League, one-half game ahead of Wright State and Detroit.

Damian Eargle paced Youngstown State with 20 points, falling two rebounds shy of the double-double and going 9-of-16 from the floor.  Devonte Maymon chipped in 12 for the Penguins, who closed within three points early in the second half before the Vikings reeled off 14 straight points to seal the contest.