It was tight all game and the Cougars pulled it out in the end.

Cleveland State (9-7, 5-4) was up just one at halftime and put together what was needed to take home a victory from Southwest Tennessee (6-15, 3-6) winning 88-83.

"I thought we played together and with a different focus," head coach Rafael Howard said. "We talked about playing with energy for forty minutes, winning the rebounding, and limiting the turnovers."

The Cougars outrebounded the Saluqis by eight and limited their turnovers to 13.

Cleveland State's leading scorer was Julius King, Jr. putting in 22 points to remain in the top five scorers in the conference. He was one of four players to score in double figures. Hasani Rivera was the game's leading rebounder with 11 and was two points shy of a double-double.

Southwest Tennessee also had four players score in double figures. Nick Woodard is the conference's third leading scorer and rebounder and put in a game high 30 points, but it wasn't enough to take out the Cougars.

"I thought we played with some toughness down the stretch," Howard said. "The contributions from multiple guys helped us and I'm pleased with the way we bounced back from last Wednesdays game."

Next up for the Cougars is a home game against first place Walters State (18-1, 9-1). Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.