Robert Morris at Cleveland State
Saturday, November 30 | 6 p.m.
Wolstein Center | Cleveland, Ohio
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OPENING TIP: Cleveland State returns to the Wolstein Center to host Robert Morris in the first of back-to-back home games...The Vikings enter the contest on a two-game winning streak having defeated UNC Wilmington and Eastern Kentucky in the Battle for the Capital in Washington, D.C....Cleveland State is 1-1 in the Wolstein Center this season after beating Edinboro and losing to Florida International...The Vikings are currently 3-4 on the season
CSU 65, EASTERN KENTUCKY 51 (11/23/19): Tre Gomillion scored 15 points and grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds and Cleveland State turned in a dominating defensive performance in a 65-51 win over Eastern Kentucky in the finale off the Battle for the Capital...The Vikings held the Colonels to just 25.5 percent shooting from the floor for the game...Craig Beaudion added 14 points and Algevon Eichelberger finished with nine points and seven rebounds...Cleveland State held Eastern Kentucky without a field goal for 15:08 of the second half
CSU 47, UNC WILMINGTON 46 (11/22/19): Tre Gomillion converted a putback layup with 10.7 seconds to go in regulation leading Cleveland State to a 47-46 victory over UNC Wilmington...Algevon Eichelberger recorded his first career double-double with a career-high 19 points and a career-high 13 rebounds...Cleveland State limited UNC Wilmington to just 27.3 percent shooting for the game...Craig Beaudion added 10 points and three assists for the Vikings...The Vikings held the Seahawks without a field goal for the final 7:47 of the game
THE ROBERT MORRIS SERIES: This will be the 15th meeting between the two teams...The series is deadlocked as each team has claimed seven wins...The teams last met on Nov. 23, 2013 when the Vikings claimed an 87-74 victory in the Wolstein Center...The Colonials last win in the series came on Nov. 20, 2012 when Robert Morris defeated Cleveland State 71-62 in the preseason NIT
ABOUT CLEVELAND STATE: Cleveland State enters the game with a 3-4 overall record...The Vikings have won two straight games...Cleveland State is seeking its first three-game winning streak since the end of the 2017-18 season...The Vikings are seeking to win three straight non-conference games for the first time since CSU opened the 2011-12 season with five straight wins...Algevon Eichelberger leads the Vikings averaging 11.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game...Tre Gomillion ranks second on the team averaging 9.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per contest...Craig Beaudion is averaging 11.7 points per game over the last three games...Cleveland State held UNC Wilmington and Eastern Kentucky to under 27.3 percent shooting...Algevon Eichelberger and Tre Gomillion were each named to the Battle for the Capital All-Tournament team...Algevon Eichelberger posted his first career double-double against UNC Wilmington with 19 points and 13 rebounds...Tre Gomillion recorded his first career double-double with 15 points and 16 rebounds against Eastern Kentucky
DOUBLE TROUBLE: Cleveland State's Algevon Eichelberger and Tre Gomillion each posted their first career double-double in the Battle for the Capital in Washington, D.C.... Algevon Eichelberger notched his first career double-double when he recorded a career-high 19 points and grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds in the 47-46 win over UNC Wilmington...Tre Gomillion recorded his double-double in the 65-51 win over Eastern Kentucky as he had 15 points and a career-high 16 rebounds... Algevon Eichelberger and Tre Gomillion were each named to the Battle for the Capital All-Tournament team
YOU CAN'T WIN IF YOU CAN'T SCORE: Cleveland State turned in a pair of brilliant defensive efforts in recording victories over UNC Wilmington and Eastern Kentucky...Cleveland State held UNC Wilmington to 27.3 percent shooting from the floor and did not permit the Seahawks to score a field goal in the final 7:47 of the game...The Vikings then held Eastern Kentucky to 25.5 percent shooting from the floor and held the Colonels without a field goal for 15:08 of the second half
THE DENNIS GATES ERA: This will mark the first season for new Cleveland State head coach Dennis Gates...Gates earned his first career victory at Cleveland State on Nov. 9 with a 79-54 victory over Edinboro in the Wolstein Center...Gates was named the Vikings head coach on July 26, 2019...He comes to Cleveland State after spending the previous eight seasons as an assistant coach at Florida State...Gates brings 16 years of Division I coaching experience to Cleveland State...Gates also coached at Marquette, Cal, Northern Illinois and Nevada
HORIZON LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL: Cleveland State has been selected to finish 10th in the Horizon League Preseason Men's Basketball Poll as voted upon by the league head coaches, sports information directors and media members...Cleveland State received one first-place vote and finished with 62 points
HOME SCHEDULE: Cleveland State will host 15 games in the Wolstein Center this season...The Vikings will play nine Horizon League contests and six non-conference games...The Vikings first home game will be on Nov. 9 versus Edinboro...Cleveland State will face Youngstown State on Jan. 4 in its HL home opener
BACK FROM LAST SEASON: Cleveland State welcomes back five players from the 2018-19 roster...Kasheem Thomas, Jaalam Hill, Algevon Eichelberger, Deante Johnson and Liam Doup all return from a season ago...Jaalam Hill is the Vikings leading returning scorer and rebounder from last season...The senior averaged 11.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game in 28 contests last year...Kasheem Thomas averaged 5.8 points and 2.9 rebounds per game...Thomas also averaged 2.9 assists per contest...Algevon Eichelberger averaged 5.2 points and 3.2 rebounds per game after playing in 31 games and making 12 starts...Deante Johnson appeared in 29 games and finished the year averaging 2.6 points and 4.0 rebounds per game...Liam Doup was a walk-on to the team in January, but did not see any game action
FRESH FACES: Cleveland State will feature 11 new players in 2019-20, which ties for the fifth most in Division I...Tyrese Potoma, Craig Beaudion, Franklyn Penn Jr., Tre Gomillion, Hugo Ferreira, Anthony Rego, Daylen Williams, Aria Eskandari, Jeremy Sanchez, Torrey Patton and Jalen Williams are all new to the Vikings this season
COACHING STAFF: Dennis Gates announced his coaching staff shortly after his appointment...Rob Summers, Dru Joyce, Ryan Sharbaugh are all assistant coaches on the staff...Veteran coach Dickey Nutt is the special assistant coach for student-athlete development...Chase Goldstein is the director of basketball operations and Steven Wright is the video coordinator
FROM EVERYWHERE: Cleveland State is represented by players from four countries and and eight different US states...Tyrese Potoma (Saskatchewan), Kasheem Thomas (Quebec), Franklyn Penn Jr (British Virgin Islands) and Hugo Ferreira (Portugal) all hail from foreign countries
STRAIGHT SHOOTING: Cleveland State topped 50.0 percent shooting from the floor for the first time this season in the victory over Edinboro...The Vikings finished the game shooting 50.9 percent from the field having made 28-of-55 attempts...Cleveland State shot better than 50 percent from the floor in each half...The Vikings shot 51.5 percent in the first half and 50.0 percent in the second half...The Vikings shot a season-best 56.0 percent from the field in the first half of the game at South Carolina
ECONOMICAL EFFORT: Junior Franklyn Penn Jr., made the most of his 23 minutes of court time against Edinboro...He scored 12 points, collected eight rebounds, handed out four assists and recorded four steals
AGAINST THE NEC: This will mark the Vikings 28th all-time meeting against a member of the Northeast Conference...Cleveland State has a 17-10 record against NEC opponents...The Vikings have faced Robert Morris the most of any NEC opponent...Cleveland State also is 3-0 against Sacred Heart, 3-2 against Fairleigh Dickinson, 1-0 versus Wagner, 1-0 against LIU Brooklyn, 1-0 against Bryant and 1-1 versus Central Connecticut State
TIGHT ON THE DEFENSIVE END OF THE FLOOR: Cleveland State has held five of its seven opponents under 38 percent shooting from the floor...Cleveland State limited Eastern Kentucky to 25.5 percent shooting from the floor...The Vikings held UNC Wilmington to 27.3 percent shooting...The Vikings limited South Carolina to 37.8 percent shooting from the field, including 35.9 percent in the opening half...The Vikings held Missouri State to just 37.7 percent shooting for the game, including 32.0 percent in the second half...Cleveland State limited Edinboro to 28.3 percent shooting from the floor in a 79-54 win...Cleveland State held Edinboro to 20.8 percent shooting from the floor in the first half...Minnesota and Florida International are the only teams Cleveland State has faced to top 38 percent shooting from the field...For the season, Cleveland State is holding opponents to 39.0 percent shooting from the field
ALSO TOUGH ON THREE'S: Cleveland State has also done an excellent job defending the three-point line through seven games...The Vikings have held the opposition to 34.8 percent shooting from distance...Cleveland State limited Eastern Kentucky to 18.8 percent shooting from the three-point line...The Vikings held UNC Wilmington to 23.1 percent shooting from deep...Cleveland State held Missouri State to 29.4 percent shooting from the three-point line...Cleveland State's defense held Edinboro to 15.8 percent shooting fromm beyond the three-point line...The Vikings held South Carolina to 32.0 percent shooting from distance
IT'S JUST STEALING: Cleveland State has notched at least seven steals in five of its seven games on the season...The Vikings posted a season-high 10 steals in the victory over Edinboro and in the game against Florida International...Craig Beaudion and Hugo Ferreira share the team lead with 10 steals
GIMME THE LEFTY: Cleveland State is not short on left-handed players this season...Tyrese Potoma, Hugo Ferreira and Daylen Williams all play left-handed