CHICAGO (AP)—J’Nathan Bullock had 17 points and George Tandy tied his career high with 16 as Cleveland State used sprints at the start of each half for an 83-70 Horizon League victory over Loyola of Chicago on Saturday.
The Vikings jumped to an early 14-2 lead as Loyola (12-12, 4-8) missed its first ten field goal attempts and didn’t score from the field until Marcus Thomas scored with 11:45 left. The Ramblers cut into the lead, and trailed only 32-27 at half time, but the Vikings opened the second half with a 17-6 spurt that gave them a 49-32 margin, the largest of the night.
Loyola several times came within seven points, the last time at 69-62 with 3:37 left.
Cleveland State (16-8, 7-5) had 8 of 10 free throws in the closing 3 minutes to preserve the margin.
Leon Young led Loyola with 22 points, hitting six of nine from the field and 10 of 12 free throw attempts.
