Jan. 7, 2012

Box Score

CLEVELAND - Host Cleveland State (14-3, 4-1 Horizon) shot 57 percent (26 for 46) from the field and knocked down 10 of 17 three-point field goals to earn a 69-48 victory over Loyola University (5-11, 0-6 Horizon) this afternoon at the Wolstein Center, The Ramblers, who owned a 30-8 advantage in free throw attempts, lost for the fourth straight outing.

Both teams were slow to get into a rhythm on offense at the outset, but Ben Averkamp scored five of Loyola's first nine points as the Ramblers built an 11-7 advantage 10 minutes into the contest. That lead would be short-lived though. Tim Kamczyc's lay-up at the 9:19 mark of the opening period kicked off a 14-2 Viking run that was punctuated by Trevon Harmon's third three-pointer in that spurt, as CSU seized a 21-13 lead it would never relinquish.

Cleveland State's 32-17 halftime lead would be its largest of the period and the Vikings were able to capitalize on 10 first-half Loyola turnovers and convert those into 17 points.

Loyola drew within 13 points on three occasions in the second half, the last coming when Walt Gibler's basket made it a 40-27 game. However, Cleveland State responded with a 7-1 run to bump the lead to 47-28 and the Ramblers would get no closer than 14 points the rest of the way.

Averkamp, Gibler and Denzel Brito each scored 10 points to pace Loyola, which shot only 32 percent (13 for 41) from the field. Gibler's effort extends his streak of scoring in double digits to a career-high 10 contests and he now needs 58 points to reach 1,000 for his career.

In addition to his 10 points, Averkamp added six rebounds, two assists, a pair of steals and a block, while Brito's 10-point performance was his best since December 19.

Harmon, who missed Thursday's game after suffering a concussion, led Cleveland State with 20 points.

Loyola is off until January 14 when it closes out a three-game road swing by visiting city and Horizon League rival UIC.