CINCINNATI – The Cleveland State men's basketball program left it all on the line, but in the end the group fell just short as the Vikings dropped a heartbreaker in the opening round of the NIT Tournament to Xavier, 72-68, at the Cintas Center on Tuesday night.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Cleveland State – 68, Xavier– 72
LOCATION: Cintas Center – Cincnnati, Ohio
RECORDS: Cleveland State 20-11 (15-6 Horizon), Xavier 19-13 (8-11 Big East
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Torrey Patton left it all on the line in his last career game in a CSU uniform as the senior guard recorded his sixth double-double on the year with 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. He also added two steals and an assist. Patton was honored as a Second Team All-Horizon League honoree to close out his senior campaign.
- D'Moi Hodge dropped a game-leading 16 points along with six boards and an assist. It was the 27thdouble-digit game of the season for the senior wing. He did most of his damage at the line with an almost perfect 9-of-10 mark from the charity stripe.
- Tre Gomillion also finished in double-figures as the senior guard added 14 points, seven rebounds, a team-best five assists and three steals.
- Deante Johnson had a strong game inside with 11 points (on 5-of-6 shooting) with seven boards and a team-high two blocks.
- The Vikings truly outplayed Xavier throughout the evening as CSU finished with more points in the paint (42 to 32), second chance points (17 to 10), rebounds (42 to 37), and shot a better percentage from the field (45 percent to 38.7 percent).
- Tonight's postseason contest featured seven times that the score was tied and seven lead changes overall.
- CSU advanced to postseason play in consecutive years for the first time since the Vikings qualified for back-to-back NITs to conclude the 2011 and 2012 campaigns. It was the sixth NIT bid for Cleveland State overall and the 11th postseason appearance in program history.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Cleveland State jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead through the first six-plus minutes of the contest.
- The two sides continued to trade blows back and forth, with CSU still holding a slight 16-15 advantage with 8:13 left in the opening half.
- The rest of the first featured three times that the game was tied and five lead changes as Xavier hit the half up 29-28.
- The Vikings were able to build a seven-point lead with 15:30 left in the contest (43-36), before Xavier went on a 26-18 charge to jump ahead 66-61 with 2:23 remaining.
- Cleveland State continued to battle, and got it as close as two with 50 seconds left, but the Vikings found themselves on the wrong side of a frantic finish as XU escaped with the 72-68 victory.
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