Cleveland State, Wright State Set Up Saturday Showdown with Thursday Wins

Horizon League Men's Basketball Weekly Release (Jan. 21, 2011)

Entering the night part of a three-way tie for second place in the Horizon League, Cleveland State and Wright State matched each other with wins on Thursday night, making their Horizon League Game of the Week meeting on Saturday a must-see event.

Both teams won in similar fashion, as each used late runs to overcome its opponent.  At the Wolstein Center, Cleveland State (17-3, 6-2 Horizon) used a 14-1 run late to overcome a one-point deficit in an 81-69 win over visiting Detroit (10-10, 4-4 Horizon).  Wright State (13-7, 6-2 Horizon) went on an 18-4 run over the game's final 6:26 to slip past Youngstown State (7-11, 1-7 Horizon), 66-62, at the Beeghly Center.

Trevon Harmon and Norris Cole combined to carry the Vikings, as Harmon posted a game-high 22 points while Cole added 18 points and matched his career high with 11 assists.  Defensively, Cleveland State forced 19 Titans turnovers, turning those miscues into 27 points.

Nick Minnerath and Eli Holman led Detroit with 16 points apiece; Holman tallied his ninth double-double of the year by adding 14 rebounds.

The Titans will look for a split of their road trip against Youngstown State, who led for much of the evening against the visiting Raiders.  Leading by four points at the half, the Penguins opened a nine-point lead in the first 95 seconds of the second half.  Wright State closed the gap to one before another YSU run put them up, 58-48, with 6:47 to play.

Cole Darling got Wright State's final spurt started with a three and AJ Pacher brought the Raiders within a single point with a triple with 3:26 remaining.  Vytas Sulskis countered with a jumper for the Penguins, but two N'Gai Evans free throws and a Troy Tabler jumper gave Wright State the lead for good with 1:55 to go.

Tabler gave the Raiders a three-point lead with two free throws with 44.3 ticks left on the clock; two Youngstown State chances to tie did not connect and Matt Vest sealed the win with a lone free throw in the closing seconds.

Evans and Vaughn Duggins led Wright State with 14 points apiece; Ashen Ward and Devonte Maymon each had 12 for the Penguins, while Sulskis added 11.