Cleveland State, Youngstown State Climb Ladder as Season Hits Halfway Point

Horizon League Men’s Basketball Scoreboard (Jan. 21)
Cleveland State 83, Milwaukee 57
Youngstown State 77, Green Bay 47

Horizon League Men’s Basketball Standings (through Jan. 21):
1. Valparaiso               7-2
    Cleveland State      7-2
3. Butler                        6-3
     Youngstown State 6-3
    Milwaukee               6-3
6. Detroit                      4-5
    Wright State            4-5
8. Green Bay               3-6
9. UIC                           2-7
10. Loyola                   0-9

A Horizon League men’s basketball season that began with a plethora of nail-biting finishes reached its halfway point with two dominant performances by Cleveland State and Youngstown State. At the midpoint of the conference year, five teams are separated at the top of the standings by just one game.

Cleveland State 83, Milwaukee 57
In a matchup of teams tied with 6-2 Horizon League records, Cleveland State used a balanced attack to blitz Milwaukee, 83-57, at the Wolstein Center.

Cleveland State (17-4, 7-2 Horizon) moved into a tie atop the Horizon League standings with Valparaiso, while Milwaukee (13-8, 6-2 Horizon) slipped one game behind the pair, tied with Butler and Youngstown State in third.

The Vikings shot a season-best 63.5 percent and put six players into double figures; from the outset, Cleveland State was hot, hitting six of its first seven shots in racing out to a 19-9 lead seven minutes into the game. The Panthers would get no closer than eight points the rest of the afternoon as CSU posted the second most points in a game this year.

The Vikings used a balance offensive attack, led by 15 points from Trey Harmon. Tim Kamczyc, Jeremy Montgomery and Anton Grady each posted 12, while Aaron Pogue had 11 and D’Aundray Brown 10.

Kamczyc hit all four of his three-pointers for his 12 points and did not miss a shot in CSU's two games this weekend, going 8-of-8 in wins over Green Bay and Milwaukee. He is 15-of-16 from the floor over CSU's last three games.

The junior wasn't the only one feeling it from behind the arc as the Vikings continued their torrid shooting from long range, hitting 7-of-13 from three-point range. Milwaukee entered the weekend as the nation’s leader in three-point field-goal defense, allowing just 23.4 percent shooting, but Youngstown State and CSU combined to go 18-for-32 (56.3 percent) from beyond the arc.

Milwaukee was able to cut CSU's 13 point first half lead to 36-28 at the half, but CSU hit seven of its first eight shots to open the second half on a 15-2 run to assume a 51-30 lead with 15:37 left in the game.

Grady had a three-point play in the run, while Brown had a fast break dunk off a pass from Montgomery and Harmon concluded the run with back-to-back layups.

The Panthers never got closer than 16 points the rest of the way as Cleveland State finished with a season-high 22 assists on 33 baskets and scored 44 points in the paint.

James Haarsmaled the Panthers with 15 points and five rebounds. He was the only player from UWM in double figures.

Youngstown State 77, Green Bay 47
One of the top three-point shooting teams in the country, Youngstown State showed why on Sunday afternoon, going 12-for-24 from distance en route to a 77-47 demolition of Green Bay.

Youngstown State (11-8, 6-3 Horizon) kept pace with the front of the conference, moving into a tie for third place with Butler and Milwaukee and staying one game behind Valparaiso and Cleveland State. Green Bay (7-12, 3-6 Horizon) dropped its 11^th road game of the year and sits in eighth in the League standings.

Blake Allen, who had 27 points in Thursday’s win over Milwaukee, led all scorers with 16 points as four Penguins starters had at least 12 points. His partner in the backcourt, Kendrick Perry, had 15 points as the duo combined for 31 points, 11 assists and one turnover.

After Green Bay scored on its first trip down the court, YSU scored the next 10 points over a six-minute span to go up 10-2. The Phoenix cut the lead to five just inside of 11 minutes left, and it trailed just 18-12 with 8:54 remaining following two Keifer Sykes free throws.

Perry and DuShawn Brooks then sparked an 11-3 run with back-to-back 3-pointers for YSU that gave the Penguins a 29-15 lead with 5:36 left. Back-to-back triples from Allen and Brooks shortly after gave the Penguins a 37-19 edge at the 3:05 mark, but YSU missed its last four field goal attempts before halftime. Green Bay made its final three shots of the period to close the gap to 38-25.

The Penguins went up by 20 for the first time at the 12:23 mark of the second half, and a 14-2 run gave them their first 30-point advantage at 75-45 with 5:48 remaining. Both teams scored just two points the rest of the way with primarily reserves in the contest.

Brooks and Ashen Ward added 12 points for the Penguins, who outshot the Phoenix 46.6 percent to 29.2 percent. Green Bay was just 2-for-9 from beyond the arc.

Alec Brown had 10 points, and Brennan Cougill added nine points and 14 rebounds for Green Bay.