Appleby’s 16 points lead balanced attack

CLEVELAND STATE 82, NIAGARA 60

The Cleveland State Vikings pulled away to an 82-60 victory over Niagara on Dec. 19 at the Wolstein Center.

Sophomore guard Tyree Appleby scored 16 points to pace a balanced CSU attack.

The Vikings improved to 5-8 with their best allaround performance of the season. Niagara slipped to 5-5 and had its three-game winning streak snapped.

At the front end of that streak was a 71-70 victory at Pittsburgh on Dec. 3.

“That was a terrific win against a team that was hot coming in here,” CSU coach Dennis Felton said.

The Vikings shot a respectable 45.3 percent from the field while limiting the Purple Eagles to 32.4 percent shooting and their lowest point total of the season.

“We wanted our defense to be the storyline tonight and it was,” Felton said.

Sophomore forward Stefan Kenic and freshman guard Rashad Williams each dropped in 14 points for the CSU. Williams did all of his scoring in the second half, canning four 3-pointers and two free throws.

Junior guard Kasheem Thomas finished with 13 points and junior forward Jalaam Hill added 11 points for the Vikings, who never trailed.

The Vikings are idle until they host Oakland on Dec. 28 in their Horizon League opener.

Sophomore guard James Townes scored a game-high 18 points for the Purple Eagles.

Niagara plays out of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, an 11-team circuit that also includes regional rival Canisius and other Division I schools in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.