Cleveland State went into halftime down four, but pulled out the conference victory against Volunteer State.
The Cougars (5-2, 2-2) remained undefeated at home by putting together a 48-point second half beating the Pioneers 82-78.
"I thought we showed some toughness today" head coach Rafael Howard said. "Especially in the second half."
Julius King, Jr. led all Cougars in scoring with 22 points. Kameron Clark added 14 of his own with Thaddeus Johnson putting up 12. Hasani Rivera secured the most rebounds with 11.
"Multiple guys contributed on both sides of the basketball," Howard said. "Although we struggled in the first half, we found our rhythm and defensively we turned it up and controlled the glass."
Cleveland State is done with their 2023 portion of the conference schedule, but still have three games remaining in the year. The Cougars will return to conference play on January 13 at Jackson State.
The Cougars are back in action on Tuesday traveling to Calhoun Community College. The two met back on November 7 with Cleveland State taking the game 81-73. Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m.
