Daytona Beach, FL-Tristan Enaruna recorded yet another clutch bucket as the Cleveland State men's basketball team prevailed in a down-to-the-wire battle with Northern Colorado in the First Round of the 2024 Ro College Basketball Invitational. Enaruna's fadeaway jumper with no time left on the clock broke a tie and gave the Vikings a 51-49 win. Cleveland State advances to tomorrow's Quarterfinal round against High Point with tip off scheduled for noon.

Enaruna recorded a double-double finishing with 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead all scorers in the contest. He finished 8-of-16 from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line.

Tae Williams also registered double figures tallying 10 points and adding three rebounds. Williams added an assist and two steals. 

It was a struggle early on for both teams as neither team could find a rhythm offensively throughout the first half. Cleveland State held Northern Colorado to 17 percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes while the Vikings shot just 27 percent from the field.

With the score tied at 14 with a little under five minutes remaining in the opening half, Cleveland State closed the half on a high note. The Vikings registered a 10-0 run over the final 4:41 of the half with Enaruna accounting for five of the ten points to take a 24-14 lead into the locker room.

The two teams traded punches in the second half with UNC cutting the lead down to one in the first eight minutes of play before Cleveland State won the next stretch as Williams tallied four consecutive buckets for an 8-0 run all by himself to push the lead back to nine with 10:22 to play. 

The lead remained at nine with a little over five minutes to play when Northern Colorado made another push. UNC cut its deficit to two with under a minute to play and the Bears forced a Cleveland State turnover to get the ball back with 26 seconds to play.

Northern Colorado was fouled and hit two free throws with three seconds remaining to tie the score at 49. Cleveland State inbounded the ball past half court and called a quick timeout to set the stage for the final play with 1.7 seconds left on the clock.

Inbounding from the sideline, Chase Robinson found Enaruna at the top of the key and the First-Team All-Horizon league veteran nailed a fadeaway jumper as time expired. 

The win is the first postseason victory for the program since 2015. The Vikings advance to play High Point tomorrow starting at noon. Pre-game coverage on the radio will begin at 11:30 on Fox Sports 1350 AM. The game will be broadcast on Flo Hoops.