• Eighth-seeded Cleveland State plays fourth-seeded Oakland in the semifinals of the Horizon League Championship on Monday  (March 5) at 7:00 pm in Little Caesars Arena.

• The Vikings are 11-22 overall and advanced to the second round with an 89-80 win over top-seeded and defending tournament champion Northern Kentucky.

• The Vikings trailed at the half, 33-28, but erupted for 61 second half points to claim the win. Tyree Appleby had 24 points and seven rebounds, while Kenny Carpenter added 15 points and six boards and Stefan Kenic chipped in 17 points.

• Oakland is 19-13 overall and finished in fourth place in the Horizon League with a 10-8 mark.

• The Golden Grizzlies advanced to the semifinals with a 62-55 victory over fifth-seeded IUPUI on Sunday night.

• Monday's game will be broadcast live on AM 1420 and AM 1440 with Al Pawlowski providing the call. 

• Ed Daugherty will have the pre-game show on the radio beginning at 7:30 pm.

• The game will be on ESPNU, ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app.

 

THE OAKLAND SERIES: 

• Cleveland State leads the all-time series with Oakland, 7-6.

• The Vikings won the first six meetings with Oakland taking six of the last seven.

• Oakland won both meetings this year, earning an 81-68 victory at home on Jan. 12 and an 82-66 win in Cleveland on Feb. 16 in CSU's home finale.

 

• The Vikings are 11-15 all-time in the Horizon League tournament and 25-28 all-time in conference tournaments.

• CSU has advanced to the tournament semifinals for the first time since 2015 when the Vikings fell at Valparaiso.

• The Vikings have won two games in the League tournament for the first time since 2010-11 when CSU defeated UIC and Wright State before falling to Butler in the semifinals.

• CSU won the 2009 tournament title, winning four games, including a 57-54 win at Butler in the championship game.

 

• The Vikings erupted for 61 second half points in Saturday's 89-80 win over top-seeded Northern Kentucky in the quarterfinals.

• CSU was 

• The 61 points were the most in a half for the Vikings since CSU scored 70 first half points against Navy on Dec. 1, 1990.

• CSU also scored 61 second half points in a win over Cedarville on Dec. 13, 2009.

 

• CSU's 99 points in a win at Youngstown State on Feb. 24 were the most by a Viking squad since since a 113-61 win over Cedarville on Dec. 12, 2009

• It marked the most by a Viking team against a Division I opponent since a 109-105 victory over Milwaukee on Jan. 20, 2000.

• In addition to setting a season-high for points, the Vikings also set season-highs for field goal percentage (.567), field goals made (34), rebounds (43) and free throw attempts (30), despite not taking a free throw in the first 23 minutes of the game.

 

• CSU has shown continued improvement at the free throw line since going 13-of-37 (.351) over the first two games.

• Since those two games, CSU is shooting 343-of-468 (.733) at the charity stripe.

• In Horizon League play, the Vikings finished 229-of-300 (.763) at the free throw line, ranking second in the League behind Oakland (.768).

• CSU is shooting .709 (392-553) at the line this year.

 

• CSU has played in 11 one possession games this year, posting a 6-5 mark in those games.

• The most recent one possession game was Friday's 72-71 win over Youngstown State in the first round of the League tournament.

• Six of CSU's League games came down to the final possession as the Vikings fell to Youngstown State (80-77), defeated Green Bay (80-79), lost at Detroit Mercy (85-84) and defeated IUPUI (70-67), Wright State (77-74) and Detroit Mercy (75-72).

• CSU played in three straight one poessession games from Nov. 20 through Nov. 29, falling at ECU, 72-69 (Nov. 20), losing to Central Conn., 74-73, (Nov. 24), and topping Arkansas State, 75-72 (Nov. 29).

• It was the first time CSU played three straight one poessession games since the 1999-2000 season when CSU fell at St. Bonaventure, 71-69, (12/30/99), and won at Loyola, 70-68 (1/6/00) and at UIC, 91-89 (1/8/00).

 

• The Vikings have tied the single game school record with 14 made three-pointers four times this year.

• CSU was 14-of-32 from three-point in wins over Coppin State (Nov. 17) and Wright State (Feb. 1) and went 14-of-39 from long distance against Notre Dame College (Dec. 10).

• CSU was 14-of-31 from three-point at Detroit Mercy (Jan. 10).

• CSU has hit 14 threes in a game eight times in school history.

 

• CSU has hit a three-pointer in a school record 630 straight games.

• The Vikings have hit at least three three's in 179 straight contests, extending the streak with 10 threes against Northern Kentucky on Saturday.

• The last time CSU failed to make a three-pointer was Feb. 21, 1998, when the Vikings were 0-for-8 in a 60-57 win over Detroit.

 

• Tyree Appleby was selected to the five member Horizon League All-Freshman team after ranking among the League leaders in points, assists and steals.

• Appleby was also named the Horizon League Freshman of the Week four times this year, earning the award in back-to-back weeks (Dec. 4, Dec. 10) and on Jan. 15 and Feb. 4.

• He earned the first award after averaging 10.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals vs. Arkansas State and at Kent State, shooting .562 (9-16) from the floor.

• Appleby picked up his second straight honor after averaging 18.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 3.5 steals, shooting .800 (12-15) from the field and 5-of-6 (.833) from three-point at Western Michigan and vs. Notre Dame College.

• He won his third award after averaging 16.5 points, 7.0 assists, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.5 steals in games at Detroit Mercy and Oakland.

• Appleby captured his fourth award on Feb. 4 after averaging 15.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.0 block vs. Wright State and Northern Kentucky.

 

• Senior Kenny Carpenter is enjoying his best season to date. He ranks 16th in the Horizon League in scoring (13.1) and 15th in rebounding (5.2), while adding 2.3 assists.

• Carpenter is 11th in the League in field goal percentage (.470).

• He has three, 20-point games this year and has 23 double figure scoring games, as well as a pair of double-doubles.

• In his first three seasons, Carpenter scored 409 points. He has surpassed that this year with 418 points.

 

• First-year head coach Dennis Felton earned his first victory at CSU with an 80-56 win over Coppin State (Nov. 17).

• Felton, who made his CSU regular debut on Nov. 11 at Akron, was named the 15th head coach in CSU history on March 24.

• Felton, a coaching veteran with more than 30 years of experience, is in his 12th season as a head coach, having spent five years at Western Kentucky (1998-03) and five-plus seasons at Georgia (2003-09).

• During his time on the sidelines Felton has amassed 195 victories, won seven conference championships and led six of his teams to the postseason, including four NCAA berths.

 

• A win on Friday would send the Vikings into the Horizon League Championship on Tuesday (March 6) night at 7:00 pm on ESPN.

• The Vikings would play the winner of Monday's other semifinal between second-seeded Wright State and sixth-seeded Milwaukee.