Men's Basketball Final Horn: Dec. 19

Men’s Basketball Scoreboard (Dec. 19)
Green Bay 49, #rv/-- Marquette 47
Wright State 67, Miami (Ohio) 58
Detroit 74, Alcorn State 58
Cleveland State 77, Notre Dame College 66

Horizon League teams rebounded with a 4-0 performance on Wednesday night, with Green Bay knocking off Marquette to provide the biggest win of the night. Wright State held off Miami, while Detroit collected its first road victory of the year and Cleveland State rebounded to outlast Notre Dame College.

Green Bay 49, #rv/-- Marquette 47
Hosting Marquette for the first time in program history, Green Bay matched the Golden Eagles’ physicality, winning a bruising battle, 49-47, at the Resch Center.

Green Bay (4-7) snapped a four-game losing streak, defeating Marquette for the first time since Jan. 7, 1995.

Keifer Sykes led the Phoenix with 20 points, while Greg Mays added 11. Alec Brown scored three of the last four points of the game for Green Bay, including the game’s final free throw after collecting a defensive rebound with 1.5 seconds to play.

The Phoenix were forced to rely on its defense over the final 40 seconds of the game, holding a scanr 48-47 lead. Playing a 1-2-2 zone, Green Bay fouled James Vander Blue as he attempted to drive the lane, sending the guard to the line for a 1-and-1 with 35 seconds to play.

Vander Blue’s free throw came off the rim, but in the scramble for the rebound, Vander Blue came away with the rebound.

Marquette would burn two timeouts to set up its final play, with Jake Thomas getting a clean look at three-pointer. The attempt came off the rim to Brown, who made the first free throw before intentionally missing the second.

In a game in which every possession seemed like a struggle, Brown’s jumper with 2:39 put the Phoenix ahead, 47-44, and after a stop on the other end, Greg Mays would split a pair of free throws to give Green Bay a 48-44 edge with 1:51 to play. The four-point lead was the largest for either team in the second half.

The two-possession lead was key, as Davante Gardner’s three-point play with 1:25 left sliced the Green Bay lead to one, setting the stage for the thrilling finish.

With Green Bay down, 31-29, to start the second half, Sykes lifted the Phoenix early, scoring five straight points before a Mays layup put Green Bay up, 36-34.

Marquette would take a 39-36 lead with 10:19 left, but Sykes and Mays would tie the game in what quickly became a test of defensive wills between the teams.

Green Bay shot just 38.6 percent (17-of-44), but held Marquette to a 19-for-49 effort (38.8 percent). The Phoenix outscored the Golden Eagles, 12-4, at the free-throw line, taking 10 more attempts than Marquette.

Jamil Wilson came off the bench to lead Marquette with 16 points.

Wright State 67, Miami 58
Wright State made the most of its frequent trips to the free-throw line, outscoring Miami by 19 points at the line in a 67-58 win at the Nutter Center.

Wright State (8-3) continued to build on its best start in five years, getting 46 bench points. Miles Dixon led the way with 21 points, while Jerran Young had a career-high 19. Dixon was 11-for-12 at the free-throw line, while Young was 11-of-14.

The Raiders trailed just once before heading into the half tied at 21 before taking control of the game midway through the second half.

An 8-0 burst put Wright State ahead, 44-34, with 6:00 on the clock. Free throws from Dixon and Tavares Sledge sandwiched around a Reggie Arceneaux three fueled the run, but an injury to Arceneaux shortly thereafter provided an opportunity for Miami to come back.

Utilizing several trapping schemes, Miami would close within 53-51 with 1:52 to play. However, following a technical foul on the RedHawks, Young would hit five straight free throws to give the Raiders a 60-53 edge with 1:02 remaining.

Another technical on Miami would help Wright State extend the lead to 11 points in the final minute.

In total, 50 fouls were called in the physical affair, with the teams combining for 50 free throws. Wright State forced 21 Miami turnovers, while committing 19 turnovers.

Allen Roberts led Miami with 16 points off the bench, while Jon Harris added 10.

Detroit 74, Alcorn State 58
All five starters scored in double figures as Detroit grabbed its first road win with a 74-58 topping of Alcorn State Wednesday afternoon as part of the Chevrolet Gotham Classic at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.

Detroit (7-5) started slow, but used an 18-0 run in the second half to put the game out of reach.

Ray McCallum recorded a game-high 19 points and five assists to lead the Titans, while Doug Anderson scored 15 points with five rebounds and two blocked shots. Nick Minnerath pitched in 13 points, while Jason Calliste and Juwan Howard, Jr. each added 12.

Alcorn State (2-9) took the early lead before the Titans responded with a 13-6 run, capped off by back-to-back dunks from McCallum and Anderson to tie the score, 15-15, with 10:15 left. However, the Braves responded with a 10-4 run to build a 25-19 lead with 7:05 remaining, before the Titans closed the half with a 14-2 spurt, including back-to-back three pointers from Calliste, to take a 33-27 lead into the locker room.

Anderson led Detroit with 11 points and four rebounds, while Calliste had eight points and Minnerath pitched in five.

Detroit came out of the locker room on fire, knocking down eight of its first 10 shots in the second half to spark a 19-2 run and give the Titans a 52-29 lead into the first media timeout. McCallum led the charge for Detroit scoring 11 of the 19 points. The Titans lead would then hover around 20 points, until the Braves scored seven of the final 11 points in the closing minutes to create the final margin.

The Titans won the battle on the boards, 24-20, and forced 13 Alcorn turnovers, while distributing 15 assists. Detroit shot 51.8 percent overall, including 61.5 in the second half, while the Braves finished shooting 44.2 percent.

Alcorn was led by Ian Francis who finished with 13 points and eight rebounds while Anthony Nieves scored 13 points and LeAntwan Luckett pitched in 11.

Cleveland State 77, Notre Dame College 66
Gary Waters collected his 300^th career win as Cleveland State held off a feisty Notre Dame College squad, 77-66, at the Wolstein Center.

Cleveland State (7-4) shot 60-percent from the field as five players finished in double figures.

Waters, in his seventh season on the sidelines for the Vikings, won for the 129th time at CSU. He is ranked third in school history in wins. Waters amassed 92 wins in five seasons at Kent State and 79 wins in five years at Rutgers.

Marlin Mason led the Vikings with a career-high 19 points and four blocked shots. Bryn Forbes added 12 points and five assists off the bench, while Charlie Lee scored 11 points, while Sebastian Douglas and Tim Kamczyc added 10 each.

The Vikings shot a blistering 73-percent (16-22) from the floor in the second half.

CSU opened a 12 point lead, 20-8, six minutes into the contest, hitting six of its first eight shots from the field. Neither team managed to score over the next three plus minutes until a three-pointer from Notre Dame's Eric Dummermuth brought the Falcons within 20-13 with 10:25 to play in the half.

A Dummermuth free throw sliced CSU's lead to six, but back-to-back buckets by Kamczyc and Douglas extended the Viking lead back to double figures, 24-14, with just under eight minutes to go in the half.

But Notre Dame used an 18-6 run over the next six minutes to take its first lead since early in the first half when Nathan Ensz tipped in a missed shot to give the Falcons a 32-30 lead.

Mason responded with an alley-oop dunk on the other end from Lee - his first two of five straight CSU points to end the half, which gave the Vikings a 35-34 lead at the break.

The Falcons opened the first five minutes of the second half on a 12-6 run to take its largest lead of the night at 47-40, but a 10-3 spurt by the Vikings tied the contest at 50-50 midway through the second half.

CSU's lead was just 60-58 with seven minutes to play, but a Mason layup and a free throw and layup by Forbes pushed the advantage to seven points, 65-58, with 5:40 left.

The Falcons stopped the run with a basket, but Lee and Josh Ivory hit three-pointers sandwiched between a Mason layup as the Viking lead swelled to 13 points, 73-60, with four minutes to play.

CSU went 32-of-53 (.604) from the field and forced 27 Falcon turnovers, which the Vikings turned into 33 points.

The Vikings dished out 21 assists, including four each by Kamczyc and Douglas, and made 17 steals.