CSU Grabs Road Win while Oakland Survives Nail-Biter

#HLMBB Scoreboard (Jan. 31)
Cleveland State 86, Detroit 78
Oakland 86, Youngstown State 85

Detroit-area teams split results on Friday night, with Oakland rallying to claim a back-and-forth game against Youngstown State while Cleveland State came into Calihan Hall and controlled the host Titans.

Cleveland State 86, Detroit 78
Bryn Forbes tied his career-high with 27 points and hit a 3-pointer in a school-record 24th straight game as Cleveland State collected an 86-78 win at Detroit in Calihan Hall.

Sebastian Douglas returned after missing five games to tally 14 points and four assists as Cleveland State improved to 15-9 overall and won its fourth straight game and seventh in the last nine. CSU also moved into second place in the Horizon League at 6-3. Detroit fell to 10-14 overall and 3-6 in league play.

The 86-point output was the ninth time CSU topped the 80 point mark this year, the most since the 1999-00 team scored 80 plus points 12 times.

Forbes led the way, hitting 7-of-10 attempts from the field, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range. He added seven rebounds and three assists. Charlie Lee recorded 13 points and seven assists – dishing out 16 assists in the two wins over Detroit this year. Jon Harris chipped in 12 points off the bench, while Anton Grady had nine points and nine rebounds.

CSU shot 59.6 percent (28-of-47) from the field, including 9-of-14 (64.3) from beyond the arc.

The Vikings used buckets by Lee and Grady to take a quick 4-0 lead, but Detroit answered with nine straight points to open up a 9-4 advantage six-and-a-half minutes in.

That's when Douglas and Jon Harris checked in, sparking the Vikings to a 16-2 run over the next five minutes as CSU opened up a nine-point lead, 20-11, at the 9:36 mark. The Viking lead would reach as many as 11 points several times after, including a 39-28 lead at halftime.

Douglas, who was playing for the first time since Jan. 13 after missing five games with a concussion, scored nine first half points and added three assists and a steal.

The Vikings shot 62.5 percent in the opening half, connecting on 15-of-24 field goals.

CSU opened the second half on a 9-2 run, capped by a Forbes three-pointer that gave the Vikings a 48-30 lead just 2:30 into the second half. The lead reached as many as 19 points, 58-39, on a Harris 3-pointer from the corner, but Detroit would use a 13-4 run over the next four-plus minutes to pull back within 10, 62-52.

But Harris answered on the other end with a 3-point play and Forbes followed with a 3-pointer to extend the lead back to 16 points. Detroit would not threaten the rest of the night.

The Titans were led by Evan Bruinsma who scored 21 points, while Juwan Howard, Jr., had 20 points.

The Vikings return to action on Thursday, Feb. 6, when CSU travels to Oakland for a 7:00 p.m. contest. It is a Horizon League Network Regional TV game and will be broadcast live on SportsTime Ohio.

Oakland 86, Youngstown State 85
Fans at the Athletics Center O'rena are getting spoiled. For the second straight game, Oakland staged a second-half rally and pulled off a win in the final seconds, this time knocking off Youngstown State, 86-85.

Oakland (9-14, 4-4 Horizon) used a Duke Mondy buzzer-beater on Saturday to get past UIC, and on Friday night, it was two Kahlil Felder free throws with 4.0 seconds remaining that proved the final margin.

Youngstown State (13-10, 4-4 Horizon) ran a play for Kendrick Perry up the right side of the court, but from two steps inside half court, Perry's attempt at the win came off the rim to the right as the buzzer sounded.

It was Perry, the preseason player of the year in the Horizon League, who gave Youngstown State a one-point advantage, 85-84, with 8.8 seconds to play after Travis Bader came up short on his 13th 3-point attempt of the night. Perry grabbed the rebound at the left elbow and drove the length of the court, where he drew a foul on Felder on his way to the rim.

Sinking both free throws, he gave the Penguins its final lead of the night, but Felder would take the ensuing inbounds pass and drive to the rim, where he was fouled.

For the eighth straight game in Horizon League play, Oakland found itself trailing at the half, as Youngstown State shot 17-of-29 in the opening 20 minutes to build a 47-39 edge at the break. But the Golden Grizzlies hit their stride midway through the second behind Bader, who drained four of his five 3-pointers in the game's final 20 minutes.

Oakland trailed by as much as 11 points early in the second half and used a 9-0 run to tie the game 65-65.

Bader's 3-pointer with 5:01 left put the Grizzlies up 80-72, but YSU responded with a 13-4 run capped by Perry's free throws.

Bader finished with a game-high 26 points and now needs two 3-pointers to match J.J. Redick's NCAA career 3-pointer record of 457.

Felder dished out 12 assists, the most in the Horizon League this season, picking up a double-double by adding 19 points. Corey Petros also posted a double-double for Oakland with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Ryan Weber led Youngstown State with a career-high 20 points as all five Penguin starters finished in double figures. Kamren Belin matched Weber's four 3-pointers to record 18 points, while Perry struggled from the field but still had 17. Bobby Hain dueled with Petros down low, collecting 14 points and 10 boards, while DJ Cole had 10 points and nine assists.