CLEVELAND, Ohio (GreenBayPhoenix.com) --- Senior JayQuan McCloud scored three of his game-high 31 points at the most critical time for Green Bay on Thursday night, converting an and-1 with 41 seconds left to halt an 11-0 run by Cleveland State at the Wolstein Center. The Phoenix (10-11, 5-3 HL) made its final five free throws to ice the game away, denying the Vikings (7-14, 3-5 HL) an opportunity to complete the comeback before the game went final at 78-74.
GB, winners in five of its last seven games, led for the entire second half after taking a 33-25 lead into the half, and had built their lead up to 12 at 71-59 with 3:23 left. Looking to melt the clock away from there, the Vikings were not going down without a fight, using an 11-0 run to get within one at 71-70. That's when McCloud crushed any hopes CSU had, blowing by his defender and finishing at the rim to go up three. He hit the free throw to give GB the 4-point lead, and hit two more free throws to completely close the door with 10 seconds left.
PJ Pipes hit two big 3s, making three total for all nine of his points, playing a career-high 36 minutes in the contest. Fellow-junior Trevian Bell had his best game in Horizon League play to date, scoring 12 points off the bench on 5-for-8 shooting.
The Phoenix was solid on the defensive end, forcing 16 turnovers and holding CSU to 3-for-12 from beyond the arc. The 25 points allowed in the first half were the second-fewest GB has allowed in a game this year, before the Vikings had 49 in the second half. CSU was held scoreless for over 4 minutes and had a stretch of one made field goal in 11 tries during the first half, as neither team really got into a good rhythm.
GB continued its dominance over Cleveland State, having now won 9 of the last 10 games in the series. It's also the third-straight game GB won by four points or fewer.
Senior Cody Schwartz added 13 points on with a perfect 4-for-4 mark at the free throw line, including two clutch free throws in the closing seconds of the game.
