Cleveland State took care of business in sharp-shooting manner in grabbing a 65-47 win over host Loyola behind 16 points from Chicago native and Viking senior Jeremy Montgomery before 2,433 on Friday at the Gentile Center.
The win allowed the Vikings to retain their hold on first place in the Horizon League at 9-2, where Valparaiso is second at 9-3 after a Thursday win against Detroit.
Montgomery, who went 3-for-4 from behind the 3-point line, gave the Vikings a 5-4 lead with a free throw with 17:28 left in the first half that it never surrendered. Cleveland State, which led by as many as 21 late in the second half, won its ninth straight over the Ramblers with 10 points each from Aaron Pogue and Anton Grady.
The Vikings, who stay in Chicago to play at 2 p.m. Sunday against Illinois-Chicago, actually shot better from the field (67% on 25-of-37) than from the foul line (66% on 10-of-15), and led 20-12 with a Montgomery 3-pointer with 11:25 left.
Cleveland State, 19-4 overall, then survived a scoring drought as the Ramblers also had trouble getting on the board, finally getting a dunk from Chim Kadima with 4:55 left to cut the CSU lead to 20-14.
With a 26-18 halftime lead, the Vikings were never in danger against the Ramblers, who fell to 0-11 in Horizon League play and 5-17 with the loss.
Loyola, led by Joe Crisman with 14 points, lost for the 10th straight time, having not won since a 59-45 decision at Canisius on Dec. 22. The Ramblers also have lost five straight at home after defeating Rockhurst (Mo.) 69-46 back on Dec. 19.
Cleveland State, winners of four in a row and seven of eight, will come home after its third straight road game in first or second place with Valparaiso playing Saturday at home against Wright State.
A Valpo win over the Raiders would force Cleveland State to defeat UIC on Sunday to retain its hold on first. Cleveland State would stay in first with a win over UIC or a loss by Valpo to Wright State.
Valpo will visit the Vikings on Thursday at the Wolstein Center in the second meeting between the two teams.
The Crusaders won the first meeting, 72-66 on Jan. 15 at Valpo. It was one of just two losses on the road this season for the Vikings, who improved to 10-2 on foreign floors. The other road loss for CSU was a 70-55 setback at South Florida on Dec. 19.
Following the visit by Vapo, the Vikings host a Feb. 11 game with Butler which will tip off at 11 a.m. and be telecast on ESPN/ESPN2.
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