Feb. 22, 2014

Box Score

  

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Charlie Lee scored 14 points to lead four players in double figures as Cleveland State claimed a 74-50 win over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Saturday afternoon at the Wolstein Center.

CSU took advantage of ice-cold Milwaukee shooting to build a 16-point lead at the half. The Vikings then made five of their first six from three-point range to start the second half in putting the game away.

Kyle Kelm had 13 points to lead Milwaukee (16-12, 6-8 Horizon), which now has work to do in the final week of the regular season to earn a home game in the league tournament. The Panthers missed 18 of their first 20 shots from the field and wound up shooting just 31.9 percent for the game.

Meanwhile, the well-rested Vikings (19-10, 10-4) bounced back from a loss to first-place Green Bay by taking a big step toward clinching the second spot in the league standings. Anton Grady and Bryn Forbes added 12 points apiece while Jon Harris had 10 for CSU.

Milwaukee again played without leading scorer Jordan Aaron, who is continuing a four-game suspension for a violation of team rules. Plus, Thierno Niang did not play because of a sprained knee.

"I thought our first 20 minutes defensively was decent, but offensively we just couldn't get anything going," Milwaukee head coach Rob Jeter said. "We just put too much pressure on ourselves. On top of that, you know Cleveland is just going to keep coming at you. With these quick turnarounds between games, it's really important we figure out a way to keep these guys feeling good."

The Panthers opened the first half cold and never heated up as the Vikings steadily pulled away. Milwaukee had an early 5-4 lead after an Austin Arians three-pointer but the Panthers wouldn't make another one the rest of the half.

Cleveland State pushed its lead to double figures for the first time at 18-7 on a follow-up basket from Grady with 6:20 remaining and eventually led 26-11 on a Forbes layin with 2:50 left.

Milwaukee responded with two-straight hoops, as baskets by JeVon Lyle and Steve McWhorter trimmed the deficit to 26-15. But Cleveland State answered with the final five points of the half to lead 31-15 at the break.

UWM made an early surge as the second half began, closing to within 33-21 on an Arians basket with 17:30 remaining. A Cody Wichmann three kept Milwaukee within 13 at 39-26, but CSU answered with seven points in a row to build a 20-point advantage.

Cleveland State then led by as many as 27 points down the stretch. "We started to get to the free throw line. We started to go inside and put a little pressure on them there. But we just dug ourselves too big of a hole," Jeter said. "We're dealing with a lot of adversity right now that we have to overcome. Hopefully going home for Senior Night is something that can help us."

The Panthers head back to Milwaukee for their final regular season home game of the year. UIC visits the U.S. Cellular Arena Tuesday at 7 p.m.