All-Time vs. St. Bonaventure: 2-7
Last Meeting: 12/15/12 87-53 L
Tickets: csuvikings.com
Radio: 1100 AM WTAM
TV: ESPN+
SETTING THE SCENE
The Cleveland State men's basketball team heads back on the road to battle the Bonnies of St. Bonaventure in a midweek non-conference road game. The Vikings are riding a six game winning streak headed into the contest, coming off of a 2-0 weekend to open conference play. St. Bonaventure is 5-3, and currently unbeaten at home. The Bonnies are coming off an 83-66 loss at Buffalo on Saturday.
THE CLEVELAND STATE/ST BONAVENTURE SERIES
Wednesday's game will be the 10th all-time meeting between Cleveland State and St. Bonaventure. The two schools last met in 2012, as St. Bonaventure prevailed 87- 53 in a game hosted in New York. The series between the schools dates back to the 1975-76 season.
VIKINGS DOWN DETROIT MERCY TO CAP 2-0 WEEKEND
Cleveland State defeated Detroit Mercy 92-77 on Saturday to move to 2-0 in Horizon League play. 92 points is the highest scoring output of the season for Cleveland State, and the Vikes shot 50% from the floor and 45% from three in the win. Tae Williams had a monster game, finishing with 23 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double. Both numbers are season highs for the Junior from Chicago, Illinois.
CLEVELAND STATE OPENS HORIZON LEAGUE PLAY WITH WIN OVER OAKLAND Cleveland State started the Horizon League slate with a victory on Thursday against Oakland, marking the third consecutive season the Vikings have started conference play with a win. CSU dominated inside in the game, outrebounding Oakland 50- 32 and scoring 48 points in the paint. Six Vikings finished in double figures for the contest, led by Drew Lowder who registered a season-high with 16 points.
GETTING IT DONE ON DEFENSE
Throughout the early going of the season, Cleveland State has found success defensively. The Vikings are holding opponents to an average of 65.6 points per game, which ranks fouth in the Horizon League. CSU ranks third in opponent field goal percentage, at .403, and ranks second in opponent three-point percentage, holding opposing teams to just 28% from long range.
SCOUTING THE BONNIES
St. Bonaventure is 5-3 on the season, and coming off of an 83-66 loss at Buffalo on Saturday. The Bonnies are 4-0 at home this season, with wins over St. Francis, Bowling Green, Southern Indiana and Middle Tennessee. St. Bonaventure is aver- aging 75.8 points per game in the four home wins, and are outscoring opponents by 11.5 points per game. St. Bonaventure is led by Mark Schmidt, who is in his 16th season in charge of the program. Schmidt has been named Coach of the Year in the Atlantic 10 twice, in 2016 and 2021. The Bonnies were picked 10th in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll.
COACH ROBINSON ANNOUNCES COACHING STAFF
Head Coach Daniyal Robinson has assembled an experienced coaching staff in his first season at Cleveland State. Jermaine Henderson returns to CSU after previously serving as an assistant coach during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons under Gary Waters. Henderson most recently served as an assistant coach at Kansas State for the past five seasons. Travis Lewis is in his second season on staff at Cleveland State, after serving as Director of Video Operations under former head coach Dennis Gates last season. Jay Shunnar enters his first season as an assistant coach, after working in several capacities under John Belein at the University of Michigan and with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
VIKINGS FINISH 2-0 IN TURKEY SLAM - CLEVELAND STATE REGIONAL
Cleveland State went 2-0 in the Turkey Slam MTE hosted at the Wolstein Center this past week. The Vikings defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Chicago State to run the winning streak to three. Jayson Woodrich was named the MVP of the invitational, after scoring in double figures in both contests. Woodrich had 12 points each in the two games, shooting at a 50% clip from three in the two contests. Tristan Enaruna was also named to the all-tournament team.
INSIDE THE WIN STREAK
Cleveland State has reeled off six consecutive wins coming into play this week. The streak began with a win over Canisius on November 16th, and has continued through the win over Detroit Mercy on Saturday. During the streak, Cleveland State is holding opponents to an average of 61.3 points per game, and holding opponents to a combined 38% from the field. The Vikings have also been solid from the charity stripe throughout the win streak, shooting 75% from the free throw line, including Yahel Hill who is a perfect 12-12 from the line in the six games.
BENCH STRONG IN VIKING VICTORY OVER ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF
Cleveland State made it back-to-back wins, defeating Arkansas-Pine Bluff this past Friday night at the Wolstein Center 67-58. The Vikings used a balanced scoring attack, and won the bench scoring battle 28-5 to notch the first home win of 2022- 23. Jayson Woodrich came off the bench to provide 12 of those points, finishing 3-6 from three point range. Ramar Pryor also finished with a season high 7 points in the win.
VIKINGS DEFEAT CANISIUS, EARN FIRST WIN UNDER COACH ROBINSON
Cleveland State picked up its first win of the 2022-23 season with a hard fought, 58-57 overtime win against Canisius last Wednesday. Cleveland State started fast, jumping out to a double digit lead in the first half, but had to withstand a surge by Canisius in the second half. The Golden Griffins battled back, and eventually tied the game at 53, sending it to overtime. Cleveland State scored first in the extra session and held on for the victory. Four of the five starters in the contest for the Vikings finished in double figures, led by Tristan Enaruna who finished with a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds. The win marked the first for Head Coach Daniyal Robinson in his career.
ENARUNA IMPRESSIVE TO START 2022-23
Transfer forward Tristan Enaruna has gotten off to a good start in his first two weeks in a Viking uniform. Enaruna had a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds in the opener against Notre Dame College, and followed that up with another double figure scoring performance with 15 against Cincinnati. He recorded another double-double against Canisius, finishing with 15 points and 10 rebounds, and fell a point shy of another on Friday against Pine Bluff. Through nine games, he is averaging 12.6 points and 7.1 rebounds, while shooting at a 44% clip from the field.
PARKER DROPPING DIMES
Deshon Parker has been a great facilitator for Cleveland State through the early going of the regular season. So far, Parker has totaled 53 assists through nine games. He had a career-high 11 in the opener against Notre Dame College. His average of 5.9 assists per game leads the Horizon League, and his assist-to-turnover ratio of 4.1 is far and away the best in the league.
WOODRICH DIALED IN FROM DEEP
Jayson Woodrich has been shooting it well of late for Cleveland State. During the Vikes' six game win streak, Woodrich is tied for the team high with 10 three point makes, and is shooting at a 37% clip from the long line during that stretch. His back-to-back 12 point outings against Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Chicago State earned him Tournament MVP honors for the Cleveland State MTE last week. Overall Woodrich has been in double figures in four of the last five games.
WILLIAMS RISES TO THE OCCASION
Tae Williams has been a key to the Vikings' success in the early going of the regu- lar season. Williams registered 23 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Detroit Mercy this past weekend, which were both season highs. Williams is averaging 10.8 points per game and has scored in double figures five times in the nine games so far this season.
LOWDER LIGHTS IT UP
Drew Lowder has been a spark plug off the bench for the Vikings of late. Lowder has scored in double figures in three of the last four games, including a season-high 16 points in the win over Oakland on Thursday. Lowder is shooting a combined 57% from the floor in the last four games.
UP NEXT
Cleveland State returns to the Wolstein Center on Saturday, December 10th to host Kent State in a non conference matchup. The game tips off at 3 p.m.
