The Green Bay Phoenix fell behind by six points at halftime, but their second half defense forced nine turnovers and held Cleveland State (8-7, 0-1 HL) to 30% shooting, pulling out a 66-55 victory in their Horizon League opener at the Resch Center in Green Bay.
Trailing 29-23 at the half, Green Bay used a 9-0 run early in the second half to take the lead and never trail again.
Senior Alec Brown had 17 points, 7 rebounds and 5 blocked shots, while sophomore Jordan Fouse and junior Keifer Sykes added 15 points each as the Phoenix improved to 10-3 overall.
Green Bay returns home Saturday to hose Youngstown State.
Panthers win
In Milwaukee, the UWM-Panthers held off visiting Youngstown State 82-76 to win their league opener at U.S. Cellular Arena.
Jordan Aaron hit 9 of 15 from the field to finish with 27 points, five rebounds and four assists for the Panthers. Steve McWhorter added 17 points as the Panthers improved to 11-4 overall, 1-0 in league play.
