(Photo Credit: Jose Juarez - Oakland Athletics)
ROCHESTER, Mich. – The Cleveland State men's basketball team hit another small roadblock as the Vikings were defeated by Oakland, 65-57 at the Athletic Center O'Rena on Saturday afternoon.
It was the second straight loss in Michigan for the Vikes as the squad will enter the 2021-22 Horizon League Tournament as co-champions of the regular season to go with the No. 1 seed in the conference tourney.
CSU will host the Horizon Quarterfinals on Thursday, March 3 at 8 PM ET at the Wolstein Center.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Cleveland State – 57, Oakland – 65
LOCATION: Athletics Center O'Rena – Rochester, Michigan
RECORDS: Cleveland State 19-9 (15-6 Horizon), Oakland 19-11 (12-7 Horizon)
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Deante Johnson and Torrey Patton paced the Vikes with 15 points apiece, respectively. Johnson recorded his second double-double of the season as he pulled in 14 rebounds to go with two assists. Patton added three helpers and two steals.
- D'Moi Hodge made his presence felt on both ends of the court as he finished with eight points, four steals and two assists.
- Nathanael Jack dropped seven points on 3-of-6 shooting in just under eight minutes of play.
- The Vikings bench outscored the Golden Grizzlies by a 15-3 margin.
- The 57 points scored by CSU were the lowest recorded by the team in a game this season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The two sides played an even first 16 minutes of the ball game as all things were knotted up at 24-24 with four minutes left in the first.
- The Golden Grizzlies were able to put together a small 6-3 run to end the half to take a 30-27 lead into the locker room.
- Over the first two-plus minutes of the second, the Vikes went on a quick 8-0 run to take a 35-30 lead with 17:54 remaining.
- Oakland battled back and tied the game at 37 with 13:09 left.
- The success continued for the Griz as they pulled ahead by 10, 54-44, with 6:33 in the game.
- CSU ended the game on a 13-11 run but it wasn't enough as Oakland pulled off the victory.
HORIZON LEAGUE TOURNAMENT TICKETS
While the opponent is still not set, the Vikings secured the No. 1 seed and home court advantage for the Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship Quarterfinals, set for March 3 at the Wolstein Center. Tickets purchased in advance are $6 and $10 at the door the day of the game. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.csuvikings.com/buytickets or call 216.687.4848.
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