Moraga, CA-The Cleveland State men’s basketball team fell on the road to Saint Mary’s Tuesday night by a final score of 70-57. Cleveland State is 6-4 following the loss, Saint Mary’s improves to 4-5.
Cleveland State struggled from the field in the first half, shooting just 24 percent. Drew Lowder provided an early offensive spark, tallying 15 points in the opening half. Lowder led the way for the Vikings with 19 points for the game. Lowder was 6-12 from the field and connected on three-of-five three-point attempts in the first 20 minutes. Saint Mary’s led 43-23 at the halftime break.
The second half saw the Vikings improve on both ends of the floor. Tae Williams and Tristan Enaruna came to life after each had a quiet first half. The two combined for five total points in the first half and did most of their damage after halftime. Both finished with 15 points in helping the Vikings outscore the Gaels 34-27 in the second half.
Saint Mary’s led wire-to-wire, but the Vikings methodically chipped away in the latter stages of the second half. The Gaels’ lead was as large as 25 points with 9:36 remaining. Cleveland State used two runs in the final nine minutes to trim the deficit to single digits. The Vikings went on a 13-0 run over six minutes and 10 seconds of action to trim the lead to 12 points. Cleveland State followed that with a 7-0 run that cut the Saint Mary’s lead to nine with 1:29 remaining.
The Gaels thwarted any attempt at an improbable comeback with a five-point flurry in the final minute to put the game away.
Cleveland State returns to action on Saturday as the Vikings travel to Kent State for a road matchup against the Golden Flashes. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.