Home Teams Hold Serve on Thursday Night

INDIANAPOLIS -- The slate of Horizon League men's basketball games returned on Thursday, with all four home teams recording victories.  Cleveland State and Detroit remained undefeated in the early portion of the schedule, while Wright State and Youngstown State picked up their first conference wins of the year.

Leading the Horizon League in defense through the first half of the season, Cleveland State (14-1, 3-0 Horizon) put on another defensive clinic at the Wolstein Center, locking down Loyola (9-5, 0-3 Horizon) in a 73-55 victory.  The Vikings turned 18 Rambler turnovers into 28 points and prevented any Loyola player from cracking 10 points in the game.

Offensively, Aaron Pogue enjoyed his finest performance as a Viking, scoring a career-best 16 points and grabbing a season-best 12 boards.  The effort on the glass helped Cleveland State outrebound Loyola, 38-32.  A balanced scoring effort saw Pogue lead the way, followed by Trevon Harmon's 14.  Norris Cole and Jeremy Montgomery each had 12.  

Courtney Stanley and Walt Gibler led Loyola with 9 points apiece.  The Ramblers will look to bounce back at Youngstown State on Saturday, while Cleveland State will try and sweep its second straight Horizon League weekend against UIC.

The mad bombers of the Horizon League, Youngstown State (6-6, 1-2 Horizon) drilled 12 three-pointers, needing each one in a 71-69 defeat of visiting UIC.  In a game that featured 10 ties and 13 lead changes, Ashen Ward was the difference, knocking down seven triples en route to a career-best 26 points.  Ward's seven threes were the fourth-most in Penguin history.

Trailing 69-68 after Paul Carter gave UIC (5-9, 0-2 Horizon) its final lead of the night, Vytas Sulskis was fouled on a drive to the rim and knocked down two free throws to mark the final lead change of the night.  After a Flames miss, Blake Allen split two free throws to create the final margin.

Carter paced UIC with 19 points, while Robo Kreps and Darrin Williams each added 13.  Dushawn Brooks and Sulskis posted 11 points each to supplement Ward's career night.

Wright State (8-6, 1-1 Horizon) locked down defensively in the second half, holding Milwaukee (6-8, 1-2 Horizon) to 15 second-half points in a 68-44 win at the Nutter Center.

Leading by just five late in the first half, the Raiders scored the final seven points of the half and carried the intensity over to the game's final 20 minutes, scoring nine straight points after Tony Meier hit a three to open the second half.  Cooper Land led the response, knocking down two long balls during the run, which stretched Wright State's lead to 17.

Land finished with a career-best 21 points, while Troy Tabler chipped in 14.  Meier led Milwaukee with 15 points.

The Raiders will seek its second straight win against Green Bay on Saturday, while the Panthers will head to Detroit.

In Calihan Hall, Detroit cruised to a 79-56 win over visiting Green Bay.  A balanced effort saw five Titans finish in double figures, while Eli Holman recorded his seventh double-double of the season.

Shooting 57.8 percent from the floor, Detroit (8-6, 2-0 Horizon) never trailed, getting a game-high 17 points from both Chase Simon and Ray McCallum.  McCallum added seven assists, while Holman controlled the glass for the Titans, corralling 13 boards to go along with 12 points.

Jarvis Williams and Rahmon Fletcher led Green Bay (6-8, 1-2 Horizon) with 15 points each.