No. 4 UW-Green Bay Tops No. 9 Cleveland State, 78-59, In First Round Of Horizon League Championship

Feb. 27, 2007

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GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) - Troy Cotton scored 19 points and Ryan Evanochko had 16 as Wisconsin-Green Bay beat Cleveland State for the third time this season, 78-59, in the first round of the Horizon League tournament Tuesday night.

Fourth-seeded Green Bay (17-14) advances to the quarterfinals on Friday against fifth-seeded Youngstown State (14-16) in Dayton, Ohio.

Cleveland State (10-21) was led by Bahaadar Russell with 14 points.

The combined 35 points by guards Cotton and Evanochko helped the Phoenix end a two-game losing streak.

Mike Schachtner added 12 points and seven rebounds and Terry Evans had 12 points, eight rebounds and six blocks for the Phoenix.

Green Bay led 38-34 and went on a 16-6 run to open the second half. Cotton hit his fifth 3-pointer of the game to put the Phoenix ahead 52-40, and Evanochko stole the next Cleveland State possession and went the length of the court for a layup.

Cleveland State hit just two of its first 11 shots of the second half.

The Phoenix led 60-45 after Evans slammed home a Ryan Tillema miss with 7:53 left.