Facing a similar situation to the previous game, it looked like it may be déjà vu for the Cleveland State men's basketball team on Thursday night, as it held a six-point lead with 1:35 to go against Oakland.

Already this season, CSU has blown six leads with under two minutes to go, including a four-point lead Monday against Youngstown State with 1:34 left in the game.

Fortunately for the 1, 777 fans at the Wolstein Center, the Vikings were able to get a few defensive stops and held on for a 86-76 victory.

The Vikings (11-8, 3-2 Horizon League) won despite playing without Anton Grady and Sebastian Douglas, who missed the game because of concussions suffered in practice on Wednesday.

It was Trey Lewis and Jon Harris who stepped up for the Vikings. Lewis led the Vikings with a career-high 29 points on 9-for-14 shooting, while Harris added 16 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

"Coach was stressing in practice that people are going to have to step up. I was looking at it as opportunity," said Lewis. "Tonight he needed me to step up and be more of an offensive threat."

Waters praised Charlie Lee for running the show. Lee finished with 11 points, five rebounds and five assists.

"That was the best Lee played in a while," said Waters. "I thought he did a great job as a floor general."

Tommie McCune led OU (7-13, 2-3 HL) with 23 points off the bench, while Corey Petros added 15 points and 13 rebounds.

"Closing down the stretch came down to us making some big defensive plays," said Lewis.

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The Cleveland State men's basketball team got a lift off the bench as Jon Harris and Sebastian Douglas each had good nights offensively in the Vikings’ 73-63 win over Detroit on Wednesday night at the Wolstein Center.

Harris, a Miami of Ohio transfer, led the Vikings with a game-high 18 points, while Douglas added 14.

"We needed (the bench) today because our guards went a combined 5-for-27 from the field. If we didn't have them today we probably could have lost the game," said Vikings head coach Gary Waters.

CSU's usually consistent starting guard tandem of Bryn Forbes (16.4 points per game), Trey Lewis (13.8) and Charlie Lee (9.8)  had a rare off night, shooting a combined 5-for-27 from the floor for 16 points. They went a combined 3-for-14 from three-point range.

"They are not going to play us man-to-man anymore because our weapons are starting to create for themselves," said Waters. "So we are going to see a lot of zones and we got to hit some shots."

The Vikings, who have won four of its past five games, improved to 10-7 and 2-1 in the Horizon League, while the Titans dropped to 8-9, 1-1 HL.

Waters called this the best bench that he has had in his seven seasons at CSU. He said the team goal is to score 25 points from the bench every game. On Wednesday, CSU's bench combined to score 34 points against the Titans.

"The difference between this team is (I know) I can write down 25 points (from the bench) before we play the game," said Waters. "I know Jon and Sebastian will get their points. That is a great insurance to go out and play the game."

Harris made all seven of his shots from the floor and was 3-for-4 from the line. He also grabbed six rebounds and dished out three assists. The Twinsburg native is averaging 9.8 points per game and is eighth in the HL in rebounding at 6.2 per game.

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Cleveland State's 89-42 rout of LaRoche College Monday won’t ever be considered particularly memorable for the Vikings, but it was a rather significant day for head coach Gary Waters.

Waters earned his 143rd win at CSU, moving him past Kevin Mackey to sit at No. 2 on the Vikings’ all-time coaching list. He now only trails Ray Dieringer, who won 149 games as coach of the Vikings from 1969-83.

"He was a great coach. He started this whole success thing of Cleveland State [basketball] during the 80's. It's a honor to be in the same window with him," Waters said on passing Mackey. "It's predicated not on me, but the players. If you have good players you have success. We had that the last six years."

Sophomore forward Anton Grady led four Vikings in double-figures with 19. Sophomore guard Trey Lewis contributed 17, while Bryn Forbes added 16 and Sebastian Douglas 10 for the Vikings who improved to 7-6.

Senior forward David Jackson and Lionel Perkins led LaRoche with nine points each

"Sometimes you need a breather like this to get back on track," said Waters.

It was only fitting that CSU's defense played a key role in the victory.

The 42 points given up by CSU were the lowest point total allowed in nearly five years when they held Notre Dame College to 40 points on Dec. 27, 2008..

LaRoche (6-4) shot 33.9 percent from the floor. CSU's aggressive man-to-man defense caused 18 turnovers that led to several easy layups and dunks in transition for the Vikings who held advantages in points off turnovers (28-6) and fast break points (27-2).

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The good news, Cleveland State fans, is that Charlie Lee returned on Saturday after missing three games with a knee injury.

The bad news, though, is that CSU had one of their worst performances of the season in a 73-61 setback against Akron at the Wolstein Center.

"We didn't play well at all," said Vikings head coach Gary Waters. "We missed 10 layups and 10 free throws. This is college basketball. They should be able to make layups." 

Waters did not think that they were still fatigued from playing in Wednesday's heartbreaking triple overtime loss at Drexel.

"{The issue is} not the triple overtime game, it's losing a triple overtime game. That's were the problems comes because it's in your mind and in your head," said Waters. "I'm a believer that everytime you lose a game it takes a little bit something from you, and you got to get it back. Did we get it back? I'll take responsibility for that. We didn't get it back."

Lee was one of the few bright spots for the Vikings. He had a team-high 14 points off the bench. Jon Harris added 12 points for the Vikings who dropped to 4-5.

Nick Harney, a Benedictine product, led Akron with 15 points. Nyles Evans and Reggie McAdams, who went a combined 7-of-10 from three-point range, each added 12 for the Zips who improved to 2-2.

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