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Dan Leach's Call of Howard's GW 3-pointer
ESPNU Highlight of Howard's GW 3-pointer

DETROIT (2/13/2015) -- Juwan Howard Jr. nailed a go-ahead 3-pointer with five seconds left to push the University of Detroit Mercy past first place Cleveland State, 66-65, on Friday night at Calihan Hall in a nationally-televised game on ESPNU.
 
The Titans (12-15, 5-7 HL) trailed by two, 65-63, with 13 seconds left when they inbounded the ball. Moving up the court, Chris Jenkins was able to find Howard Jr. on the left side and he drained the triple with 4.8 left in the game.
 
Cleveland State (15-11, 9-3 HL) then took the inbounds pass and Charlie Lee ran it up the floor and all the way to the net, but his layup rimmed out for the win.
 
Howard Jr. finished with a game-high 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting with three 3-pointers and three assists. Anton Wilson had nine points and Jenkins scored eight with four rebounds and his lone helper of the contest on the game winner.
 
The Titans led by eight at the half and extended that to 15 with a 7-0 run to start the second period. Howard Jr. began the spurt with a 3-pointer and then added another basket and Bass put UDM up, 42-27, with a bucket at the 18:25 mark.  A few minutes later, two free throws from Howard Jr. once again made it a 15-point lead, 46-31, with 16:25 left.
 
The Vikings would respond with a 16-4 run over the next five and a half minutes to make it a one-possession game, 50-47, but the Titans held strong as Matthew Grant stopped the damage with a triple and after a free throw by Wilson, Detroit led 54-47 with 8:18 remaining.
 
From there, the Vikings went on an 18-9 run over the next eight minutes to take their first lead of the game at 62-59 with under a minute left, and then led 65-63 until Howard Jr.'s shot ignited the crowd.
 
Jaleel Hogan tallied seven points and a team-best six boards. Paris Bass posted seven points and four rebounds and Jarod Williams recorded four points, three caroms and a team-high five assists.
 
Detroit shot 42.0 percent from the field and was 9-of-21 from three-point territory. The Titans also forced Cleveland State into 14 turnovers – including 10 steals - and turned those into 20 points.
 
The Titans took it to the Vikings right from the start as they scored the games first five points with Howard Jr. hitting a basket and Bass draining one from behind the arc. Jenkins later extended the lead to 8-2 at the 13:01 mark with a three of his own.
 
The early defensive pressure saw the Titans force five turnovers and hold CSU to just 1-of-5 from the field in the first seven minutes.
 
The Vikings would cut the lead to one, 8-7, but the Titans continued to frustrate Cleveland State and pushed their advantage to 20-13 with 7:37 left in the first.  CSU trimmed that to six, 26-20, but Wilson knocked in a three and was fouled, connecting on a free throw for the rare four-point play and a 30-20 advantage with 2:08 remaining.
 
CSU was within six again, 32-26, after back-to-back 3-pointers, but a trey from Howard Jr. with 40 seconds left made it a nine-point game and the Titans led at the half, 35-27.
 
Detroit will now get ready for a Metro Series showdown with Oakland as the Titans invade the O'Rena on Sunday, Feb. 15. Game time is set for 3:00 p.m., in another crucial Horizon League contest.