COUGARS IMPRESS IN WIN OVER JACKSON STATE
CLEVELAND – A quick turnaround gave the Cleveland State men’s basketball team the chance to bounce back from a loss to Columbia State and defeat a tough Jackson State squad Saturday evening.
CLEVELAND – A quick turnaround gave the Cleveland State men's basketball team the chance to bounce back from a loss to Columbia State and defeat a tough Jackson State squad Saturday evening.
A total team effort aided the Cougars' (11-5, 6-5) in their convincing 78-59 win over the Generals (9-7, 4-7).
"It was a good bounce back after a tough loss. I thought we played a good team today and it was a conference win so that's always good," Cleveland State head coach Lee Cigliano said.
"We had a lot of contributions from different people today – Victor Curry had a great game, Cam Copeland and Tevin played solid today. I also thought Jordan Williams had one of his better games this year."
A strong performance from Tevin Olison left him finishing with 28 points, which included four 3-pointers, while Copeland had 17 points and two treys of his own.
Curry had a double-double in his second game back with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
"Having Victor back this weekend gave us a lift on the inside with our scoring and rebounding," Cigliano commented.
After the first 20 minutes of play, Cleveland State had taken a 35-29 lead over Jackson State. Olison scored 13 of his team's 35 points in the first half.
The Generals threatened the Cougars midway through the second half and went on a 10-point run that was broken up by a 3-pointer from Copeland with 8:02 left in the game.
Determined to finish out Saturday with a win, Cleveland State put up a total of 43 points in the second half, outscoring their opponents by 13.
"We had a 17-point lead that got down to seven and we had to decide if we wanted to finish the game out and play hard as a team. The group I had out there got it done and did the things necessary for us to do it," Cigliano explained
The Cougars return to action this next weekend with back-to-back road games. On Friday, they travel to Volunteer State and then pay Motlow State a visit on Saturday. Their next home game will be on Feb. 7 versus Gadsden State.
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