Cleveland State at Purdue Fort Wayne
Saturday, Dec. 19 | 7 p.m.
Gates Sports Center | Fort Wayne, Indiana
Presented by Cleveland Clinic Sports Medicine
Stream | Audio | Live Stats
Game Notes
SETTING THE SCENE
The Cleveland State men's basketball team enters Saturday's contest seeking their first win of the 2020-21 season. Senior Torrey Patton is coming off of a career night, grabbing a career-high tying 14 rebounds, while junior transfers D'Moi Hodge and Chris Greene look to continue their hot hands, having poured in 14 points and 12 points, respectively, against No. 22 Ohio State on Dec. 13.
A WIN ON SATURDAY WOULD…
Mark Cleveland State's first Horizon League-opening win since the 2014-15 season when the Vikings took down Milwaukee 84-57 at the Wolstein Center. The Vikes opened up Horizon League play 3-0 that season, taking down Milwaukee, UIC and Oakland.
THE CLEVELAND STATE/PURDUE FORT WAYNE SERIES
Saturday's contest is only the third meeting between these two programs, with Cleveland State holding a 2-1 edge. The last time Cleveland State and Purdue Fort Wayne met was on Nov. 25, 2018, with the Mastodons taking an 82-79 victory. Current Viking, and senior captain, Algevon Eichelberger appeared in Cleveland State's last meeting against Purdue Fort Wayne, tallying seven points, 11 rebounds, two blocks and one assist in 22 minutes of action.
SCOUTING THE MASTODONS
Saturday's matchup will be Purdue Fort Wayne's second game of the young 2020-21 season. In their first game of the season, the Mastodons took down Southeastern Louisina in overtime 67-63. The Mastodons were on fire in the first half of their season-opening victory, shooting 11-17 (.647) from the floor, including a 5-10 clip (.500) from deep and a 10-12 (.833) mark from the charity stripe. Purdue Fort Wayne saw four players score in double figures in their first outing, with Jalon Pipkins leading the way with 18 points. Deonte Billups and Ra Kpedi pulled down a team-high tying six rebounds, while Dometric Horton dished out a team-high four assists.
PATTON CLEANING UP THE GLASS
Torrey Patton grabbed a career-high tying 14 rebounds against the No. 22 Ohio State Buckeyes on Dec. 13. It marked the second time in his career the senior recorded 14 rebounds (2/29/20 at Green Bay) and the fourth time he notched 10-or-more rebounds in a single contest. Patton's averaging a team-leading 8.0 rebounds per game, which is tied for fifth-best in the Horizon League.
TRANSFERS SHINE AGAINST BUCKEYES
Junior transfers D'Moi Hodge and Chris Greene each recorded 10-plus points against the Buckeyes on Dec. 13. Hodge, a transfer from State College of Florida, finished with a team-high 14 points, while Greene, a transfer from CC of Beaver County, led the Vikes bench with 12 points. Combined, the two juniors shot 11-21 (.523) from the field, including a 4-10 (.400) mark from deep.
BATTLING AGAINST NO. 22 BUCKEYES
In a battle against the nationally-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes on Dec. 13, the Vikings held advantages in points in the paint (34-22), rebounds (36-34), bench scoring (29-19), second chance points (12-6), fast break points (10-7) and assists (11-0). In the second half, Cleveland State shot .519 (14-27) from the floor, including a 5-10 (.500) clip from the three-point line.
EICHELBERGER'S BREAKOUT SEASON
Algevon Eichelberger comes into the 2020-21 season after a breakout 2019-20 campaign. Last season, he led the Vikings in points per game (14.5), rebounds (6.4), blocked shots (0.9) and made field goals per contest (5.5). In the Horizon League, Eichelberger ranked fifth in field goal percentage and seventh in rebounds and blocked shots per game. He pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds on three separate occassions: UNC-Wilmington (11/22), Toledo (12/4) and ETSU (12/21 and posted four double-doubles.The 2020-21 captain poured in a career-high 28 points on Feb. 13 at Oakland and notched 10-or-more points in 25 of his 29 games played, along with six contests of 20-plus points.
RETURNING PRODUCTION
In Horizon League play, the Vikings are returning over 80% of their production from last season: 83% of total points, 84% of total rebounds, 82% of total assists, 86% total blocks and 83% of total steals.
UP NEXT
The Vikings will compete at the Wolstein Center on Dec. 26 (1 p.m.) and Dec. 27 (1 p.m.) against YSU. Fans can listen to the game on 1420-WHK, 102.5 FM or www.whkradio.com with the Voice of Cleveland State men's basketball Al Pawlowski on the call.
1986 SWEET 16 CELEBRATION, PRESENTED BY HUNTINGTON BANK
On Saturday, Dec. 21, the Cleveland State Vikings took down Eastern Michigan, 108-59, inside Woodling Gymnasium. The 108 points scored marked the Vikes second-straight game of hitting the century mark, as well as the third time in six games they tallied 100+ points. The win marked Cleveland State's third win in a four-game winning streak.
THE DENNIS GATES COACH'S RADIO SHOW
We are excited for the return of The Coach Dennis Gates Radio Show! You can catch the Voice of the Vikings, Al Pawlowski, and Coach Gates talk CSU basketball each Wednesday night from 7:00-8:00p on 1420-WHK, 102.5 FM or www.whkradio.com.
