Cleveland State 66, Western Carolina 55
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cleveland State capitalized on a two separate five-minute Catamount scoring droughts in a 66-55 win over the Western Carolina men’s basketball team Monday night in nonconference action in the Wolstein Center.
After falling behind 32-30 on a last second basket at the half by Cleveland State’s Byrn Forbes, Western Carolina came of the halftime break with a 12-6 run to take a four point lead, 42-38, with 16:17 on the clock. Trey Sumler and James Sinclair accounted for 10 – five points each -- of WCU’s 12 points during the stretch.
However, CSU mounted an 11-0 run spanning the next four minutes of play to take a 49-42 lead. The run would prove to be costly for the Catamounts as the Vikings never allowed the WCU back into the game over the remaining 12 minutes of play. CSU got five points from Trey Lewis and four points from Anton Grady during the spurt. During the decisive stretch that led to the 66-55 Viking win, the Catamounts slumped with a five-minute scoring drought.
At the eight-minute mark in the first half and leading eight points, 22-14, WCU held a 50 percent shooting percentage, but the Catamounts ended the game at 36 percent overall. The Purple & Gold made five of their 14 3-point attempts for 36 percent and converted 12 of their 17 free throw attempts for 71 percent.
Cleveland State held a steady shooting percentage all game ending at 46 percent making 22 of its 48 attempts from the field. The Vikings made only four of their 16 attempts from behind the arc, but shot seven more free throws than the Catamounts going to the line 24 times and converting on 18 of those attempts for 75 percent.
Sumler’s 21 points led all scorers. It was his fourth 20 plus point performance of the season as he made seven of his 11 shots from the floor, including three baskets from behind the arc, and four of his six free throw attempts. Sinclair was the only other Catamount in double-digits with 12 points. Tawaski King and Torrion Brummitt had six points each. King’s six points came on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting from the free throw line. The performance ties him with 31 other entries for a perfect performance from the line with a minimum of six attempts in the WCU single-game record book. Brummitt, who played only nine minutes, made three of his five attempts from the field to earn his six points.
Cleveland State placed four players in double figures with Sebastian Douglas’ 16 points leading the way. Douglas was a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor and made four of his five free throw attempts. Grady added 13 points, and Lewis and Forbes each tallied 11 points.
The win pushes the Vikings back to a .500 winning percentage for the season at 5-5, while the Catamounts slip to two games under .500 at 5-7.