Cleveland St. Vikings vs Ohio St. Buckeyes Match Player Stats On Dec 13, 2020

Duane Washington had 17 points and CJ Walker scored 16 for No. 22 Ohio State in a 67-61 win against Cleveland State on Sunday in Columbus.

Zed Key added 12 points for the Buckeyes (5-0).

D'Moi Hodge led the Vikings (0-3) with 14 points and Chris Greene had 12.

The Buckeyes led 63-56 with 33 seconds left when Washington made a free throw, then added two more 10 seconds later for a 65-56 lead. After a Hodge basket, Washington hit two free throws with 12 seconds remaining for a 67-58 lead.

Ohio State's biggest lead was 35-24 in the first two minutes of the second half.

Cleveland State pulled to 41-39 with 11:35 remaining, but that was as close as it got, as consecutive 3-pointers by Walker and Jimmy Sotos extended the Buckeyes' lead to 47-39 with under nine minutes remaining.

Ohio State played its first game without leading scorer and rebounder E.J. Liddell, who is out indefinitely with a non-COVID-19-related illness.

Ohio State's poor long-range shooting and a 19-17 rebounding edge for Cleveland State kept the game close through 20 minutes, with the Buckeyes holding a 31-24 lead despite making 2 of 11 attempts from 3-point range.

The Vikings showed resolve after a nightmare in their Dec. 6 game, when Ohio University went on a 40-0 run in Cleveland State's 101-46 loss. It was an NCAA record run against a Division I opponent.

Cleveland State went more than 12 minutes into the second half without a point Sunday, and it appeared the Vikings were headed for another bad stretch at the start against the Buckeyes. They were scoreless for the first 4:47 until a free throw by Deante Johnson. Fortunately for the Vikings, they trailed just 6-1.

The Cleveland State game leads into a challenging week for the Buckeyes as they open Big Ten play at Purdue on Wednesday and meet North Carolina in Cleveland on Saturday.

Cleveland State begins the Horizon League schedule with games Saturday and Sunday at Robert Morris.

--Field Level Media