Jan. 4, 2014

Box Score

  

MILWAUKEE - Cleveland State scored 11 of the first 13 points of the game and never looked back in claiming a 77-49 win over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Saturday night at the U.S. Cellular Arena.

The Vikings (9-7, 1-1 Horizon) led by 14 points at halftime and then ended the game on a 17-4 run to provide for the final margin.

Jordan Aaron scored 14 points to lead three Panthers in double figures, but Milwaukee shot a season-low 27.9 percent and failed to make a three-pointer in a game (0-13) for the first time since February of 2006.

Anton Grady had 19 points and Trey Lewis 17 for Cleveland State, which made 58 percent of its shots.

"We just could not get going in any part of the game tonight and that had a lot to do with how they pressured, how they play, and how tenacious Cleveland State is," Milwaukee head coach Rob Jeter said. "I thought they played the best I've seen them play in a long time. For us, we just couldn't figure out a way to get going. We've had some tough stretches in games, but it's been stretches. For 40 minutes, we just could not figure out a way to get going. This is a great learning experience for our team."

The Vikings scored the first six points of the game and led 11-2 after a three-pointer by Charlie Lee. The lead hit double-digits at 19-8 on a three by Lewis with 9:57 remaining and then a three by Jon Harris pushed the advantage to 26-10.

Cleveland State eventually led by as many as 17 points before Milwaukee crawled back to within 31-18 on a pair of Tiby free throws. The Panthers were unable to get any closer before the break, though, with the Vikings carrying a 37-23 lead into the locker room.

The Panthers looked to have their opportunities to get closer early in the second half, closing to within 12 on a pair of occasions while having possessions to get even closer. But, the Vikings answered with a 10-1 burst, as a three from Lee made it 53-32.

Milwaukee again was able to cut the deficit to 15 but Cleveland State finished the game by scoring 17 of the final 21 points to put an exclamation point on becoming the first Horizon League team to win on the road in league play this season.

UWM returns to action quickly, hitting the road for a Wednesday game at Oakland.