Feb. 20, 2008

Box Score

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cedric Jackson scored 18 points to lead four players in double figures as Cleveland State captured a 74-64 win over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Wednesday night at the Wolstein Center.

The Vikings (18-11, 11-6 Horizon) led by as many as 14 points midway through the second half before holding off a late rally by the Panthers (13-12, 8-7).

Deion James scored 18 points off the bench to lead Milwaukee, which also got 11 points apiece from Marcus Skinner, Paige Paulsen and Deonte Roberts.

Cleveland State shot 60 percent from the field in the second half and made 19-of-25 from the foul line in clinching no worse than third place in the league standings.

Meanwhile, UWM shot 44 percent from the field, scored just nine points from the foul line and had 13 turnovers lead to 12 Cleveland State points.

"I think turnovers really sum up the game," UWM head coach Rob Jeter said. "It was a contest that could have gone either way at some points but we made some mistakes. You have to give Cleveland State a lot of credit. They play really hard and defensively, in this building, they really take some things away."

UWM trailed by five with 16:31 remaining in the game before CSU scored 13 of the next 17 points for a 53-39 lead with 10:56 to play. The Panthers did rally, pulling to within 58-52 with 7:41 left and to within 63-57 on a Roberts three-point play with 4:54 left. But, UWM would get no closer as the Vikings steadily rebuilt their double-digit advantage.

"We couldn't get that extended run," Jeter said. "You have to give Cleveland State credit for that because they made the plays."

UWM had to overcome a sluggish start to stay in the game during the first half. Cleveland State scored 10 of the first 12 points of the game and led 14-4 with less than five minutes gone. But, the Panthers scored the next nine points to get right back in the game. UWM was still within a point at 23-22 after a three-point play by James with 5:13 remaining. CSU responded by scoring eight-straight points to push its edge back to 31-22 before a three-pointer by James brought Milwaukee back to within 31-25 at the break.

The Panthers return to action Saturday night, heading to Peoria, Ill, for an O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters contest against Bradley. The game tips off at 8 p.m. CST.