GAMEDAY CENTRAL

DETROIT (1/21/15) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will return to Horizon League play as the Titans visit Cleveland State for a Friday (Jan. 23) night showdown. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET at the Wolstein Center and will be televised live on ESPN3 with Andy Masur and Dave Kaplan making the call.
 
The game can also be heard on 97.1 The Ticket with the voice of the Titans Dan Leach.

GAMEDAY CENTRAL
Fans can follow every Detroit game this season through the men's basketball GAMEDAY CENTRAL page located on the Titans Athletic Website that will keep fans one click away from all the action. This page will feature links for live stats (audio and video when applicable) as well as links for all the latest info while also making it easy to find the Titans on social media and to purchase game tickets. The Game Day Central page also carries all the information on each opponent from who is leading the all-time series to who won the last game.
 
LAST OUTING
Paris Bass scored 19 points, including Detroit's first nine in overtime, on Monday in an 81-69 win over Northeastern.
 
Zach Stahl missed a contested layup at the buzzer after a steal by Juwan Howard Jr. led to a dunk by Bass to tie the game at 60 with 28 seconds left in regulation.

After Bass scored four times, including a three-point play, Chris Jenkins made two free throws to put the Titans (10-10) ahead 71-62 with 1:06 to go. David Walker drilled a 3-pointer at the one-minute mark for the Huskies (13-6). 

Anton Wilson (11 points), Howard (16) and Jenkins made (13), who also had a late dunk and 13 rebounds, made their two free throws in the final minute to secure the win.
 
ABOUT CLEVELAND STATE
Trey Lewis hit seven 3-pointers and scored 29 points to lead Cleveland State to a 74-61 win over Youngstown State on Saturday night.
Lewis made 11-of-22 field goals for Cleveland State (11-9, 5-1 Horizon League). Charlie Lee added 14 points and eight assists, while Anton Grady had 11 points, 10 rebounds and three steals.
 
Cleveland State shot just 33 percent in the first half, but outrebounded Youngstown State, 20-12, and converted nine offensive rebounds into eight points to take a 31-22 lead into halftime.
 
Shawn Amiker scored six-straight points to open the second half, pulling the Penguins within three, but a 3 by Lewis sparked a 16-4 run by Cleveland State which made it 47-32 with 13:42 left.

The Vikings, which shot 69.6 percent after halftime, led by double digits the rest of the way.

SERIES WITH THE VIKINGS
This will be the 58th meeting between Detroit and Cleveland State, with the Titans leading the all-time series 37-20. The Vikings won both games last year, including a 73-63 win at the Wolstein Center. The Titans last win in Cleveland was a 65-54 victory on Feb. 25, 2010.
 
HELLO PARIS
Freshman Paris Bass forced overtime with a big dunk with 28 seconds left in regulation Monday afternoon at Northeastern, and his play was saluted with a No. 2 ranking on SportsCenter's "Top 10 Plays" on ESPN.

Bass ended up scoring 11 straight points — tying his overall career high of 19 — and the Titans won in overtime, 81-69.

DETROIT IN THE TOP-50
Heading into Friday's game, Detroit finds itself ranked among the top-50 in the nation in three categories, three-point field goal percentage, turnover margin and steals per game. The Titans rank 27th in turnover margin (+3.1), 42nd in three-point field goal percentage (38.3) and 46th in steals per game (7.9).

HOWARD IS 25 AND CLIMBING
This season, Detroit senior forward Juwan Howard Jr. became the 39th Titan to join the 1,000-point club and currently ranks 25th all-time with 1,197 points. Former Titan Dick Dzik '64 is next on the list as he ranks 24th overall with 1,213 points. Juwan Howard, Sr. scored 1,526 points at the University of Michigan from 1992-94 as part of the Fab Five.

TITANS PICKED THIRD
Detroit was picked to finish third in the Horizon League preseason poll - voted on by the league's coaches, sports information directors and media members – while senior forward Juwan Howard Jr. was named to the preseason first team at the Horizon League Men's Basketball Media Day at the Loews Chicago O'Hare Hotel in Rosemont.

Green Bay was selected as the favorite to win the league with 32 first place votes and 357 points overall, while Cleveland State was picked to finish second with 335 points, including nine first place votes. Detroit was slated to place third with 239 points, while Valparaiso was picked fourth with 228 points.
 
Wright State is projected to finish fifth totaling 186 points, ahead of sixth-place and defending Horizon League Tournament Champion Milwaukee's 182 points. Metro Series rival Oakland was picked seventh (178), followed by Youngstown State (95) and UIC (45).

The last time Detroit was picked among the top-three of the Horizon League preseason poll was the 2012-13 season when the Titans finished second in Horizon League play with a 12-4 mark and 20-13 overall, earning a trip to the NIT.

UP NEXT
Detroit will continue Horizon League play as the Titans host Wright State on Monday, Jan. 26 at historic Calihan Hall. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET and will be televised locally on WADL-38 and nationally on ESPN3. The game can also be heard on AM 1270 with the voice of the Titans Dan Leach.