Box Score

CLEVELAND (1/8/14) – Senior co-captain Evan Bruinsma recorded his fourth double-double of the season but it wasn't enough as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team dropped its first Horizon League road game, 73-63, to Cleveland State Wednesday night at the Wolstein Center.

After trailing by 15, 58-43, with 11:26 left in regulation the Titans used a 19-8 to trim the Vikings lead to four, 66-62 with 3:33 left. But Cleveland State (10-7, 2-1) was able to make some key baskets and free throws down the stretch to hold for its first home win in league play.

Bruinsma led Detroit (8-9, 1-1) with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Anton Wilson matched him with 17 points and Juwan Howard Jr. pitched in 16.

Detroit scored the first two points of the game off two free throws from Howard, before the Vikings put together a 13-2 run to build a 13-4 lead with 11:49 left. The Titans would trim the lead to five, 13-8, after a pair of buckets from Wilson and Jarod Williams, before CSU used a 9-0 run to extend its lead to 22-8 with just under eight minutes left. The Titans scored four quick points on a dunk from Ugochukwu Njoku and a layup from Bruinsma to trim the lead to 10, before the Vikings responded with a  9-4 run to build their largest lead of the game 31-16 with four minutes left. The lead would stay around 15 until Detroit closed the half with an 11-6 run to make the score 37-27 at intermission.

The Titans came out in the second stanza firing and were able to force a CSU timeout after a Howard layup made the score 48-41 with 15:45 left in regulation. Following the timeout the Viking put together an 8-0 run to match their largest lead 56-41 with 13:14 left. Both teams then exchanged baskets until a pair of three-pointers from Wilson started a 19-8 run for Detroit to trim the lead to four with 3:33 left.

Detroit shot 39.6 percent (19-of-48) overall, while Cleveland State finished shooting 45.6 percent (26-of-57). The Vikings recorded 25 assists on their 26 made baskets. After starting the game 0-of-6 from downtown the Titans finished 4-of-14 overall, while CSU finished 4-of-17 from beyond the arc. Detroit made 21-of-26 free throw opportunities on the night, while also winning the battle on the boards 36-32, but the 14 turnovers – eight in the first half – seemed to be the difference.

Jon Harris led Cleveland State with a game-high 18 points – off the bench – while Anton Grady pitched in 15 and Sebastian Douglas added 14.

Detroit will continue Horizon League play when the Titans host Oakland on Saturday, Jan. 11, during Homecoming. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Calihan Hall, following the women's game versus the Grizzlies at 2 p.m. The men's game will also be live on 97.1 The Ticket webstream with Dan Leach the voice of Titan Basketball.