CLEVELAND – The IU Indianapolis men's basketball team fell in yet another close contest Saturday afternoon (Jan. 4), this time against red-hot Horizon League foe Cleveland State, 67-61.
Timaris Brown came off the bench to lead the team in scoring with 19 including four threes while
Jarvis Walker added 13.
Three players paced the scoring for the Vikings, led by Tahj Staveskie who scored a game-high 20 points and knocked down four treys. Tevin Smith struggled from the field (4-for-14) but connected on seven free throw attempts to end with 15 points. Dylan Arnett also added 15 for the Vikings while going a perfect 7-for-7 from the field.
Cleveland State (10-6, 4-1 HL) got off to a scorching start, connecting on five of their first eight attempts while holding IU Indy scoreless to jump out to a 10-point lead. Walker got the Jags on the board with a three pointer that started a 7-0 run after five straight tallies from Brown. The hosts, however, went on a run of their own, scoring nine of the next 12 to retake control.
IU Indianapolis (5-12, 1-5 HL) overcame its slow opening 10 minutes, never trailing by more than seven for the remainder of the contest. The visitors ended the opening frame shooting 45 percent from the field and beyond the arc.
Despite cooling down in the second stanza (9-for-31) and losing leading scorer
Paul Zilinskas who took an awkward fall on a hard foul, the Jags kept it close, tying the game five times and earning their first lead with five and a half minutes of play remaining on a Brown triple.
The Vikings took back the lead just under a minute later and never looked back. A three from Staveskie with 2:18 left on the clock proved to be the dagger. The attempt was the fourth of the possession and pushed the lead to four, 62-58. The Vikings would further extend the lead at the free throw line and despite a Walker three with 13 seconds left, the hosts would hold on to win their sixth straight.
The Jaguar loss extends the streak to seven, with all but two coming in single-digit fashion. The team will now return home to host Detroit Mercy on Thursday (Jan. 9) at 6:30 p.m. inside the Jungle.
