J’Nathan Bullock scored 16 points and Kevin Francis grabbed 13 rebounds to lead Cleveland State past Illinois-Chicago 68-51 on Saturday night.
The Vikings (10-5, 3-0 Horizon League) closed the first half with a 14-4 run that gave them a 34-23 lead. UIC (8-7, 2-2) didn’t threaten in the second as Cleveland State built a 20-point cushion with 10:32 to play and cruised from there. Robert Bush led the Flames with 12 points, while Josh Mayo had 11.
“I thought our guys understood what they had to do on defense and really executed the plan,” Vikings coach Gary Waters said. “We rebounded the basketball. We did what we do best, and that is to execute on defense. If we continue to play strong defense like that, this could be a very special season.”
Cleveland State outrebounded Illinois-Chicago 44-30 and outshot the Flames 45.3 percent to 28.6 percent.
“There has definitely been progress, but you are going to have to judge us at the end of January,” Waters said.
Renard Fields and Joe Davis both had nine points, and Francis added seven points for the Vikings.
