Cleveland, OH-The Cleveland State Men's Basketball team defeated Northern Kentucky 64-63 Sunday afternoon, earning a victory on Senior Day in the final regular-season home game at the Wolstein Center.
With Sunday's victory the Vikings have secured a quarterfinal home game in the Barbasol Horizon League Championship on Thursday, March 2. The game will be part of a doubleheader with the women's basketball team, with times announced at a later date. Tickets are on sale now, and can be purchased by CLICKING HERE or by calling the CSU Ticket Office at (216) 687-4848.
Prior to the game, Cleveland State recognized Yahel Hill, Deshon Parker and Deante Johnson for their careers wearing the Green and White.
All three had big games. Johnson finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Johnson finished 7-12 from the field and made both of his free throw attempts for the game. Hill had nine points including finishing 3-6 from beyond the three-point arc. Parker finished with six points, including draining two critical free throws with under ten seconds left to seal the win for the Vikings. He also had five assists and five rebounds.
Tristan Enaruna had 14 points, finishing in double figures for the 16th consecutive game. Enaruna was 6-12 from the floor and had eight rebounds, an assist and two steals.
Jayson Woodrich also finished in double figures, scoring 11 points which included multiple critical three-pointers down the stretch to keep the Vikings in front as the game wound down.
Neither team had a lead bigger than six points throughout the entire game. There were 11 lead changes and eight ties. Despite that, the Vikings held the lead for over 28 minutes of overall game time.
The first half was back-and-forth the entire way. Both teams held slim leads, with the Vikings jumping out to a five point advantage about halfway through the half. Drew Lowder had a fast break lay-in off a steal to make it 17-12 Vikings at the 10:46 mark.
NKU responded with a mini run to tie the score up at 19 with seven and a half minutes to play. Cleveland State responded with a run to re-take a five-point lead, but NKU once again responded with a run of their own. A Marques Warrick three-pointer with 13 seconds to play gave NKU a two-point lead going into the locker room.
The Vikings surged coming out of the halftime locker room, taking their largest lead at 43-37 with 14:26 left to play.
From there the game stayed within one possession for pretty much the rest of the way. NKU tied the score three times down the stretch but could never take the lead. Parker finally iced the game by making two of two at the free throw line with three seconds to go. NKU hit a three-pointer with under a second to go for the final score.
The Vikings will travel to Wisconsin for the final two regular season games of the season. CSU will take on Green Bay next Friday, February 24th at 9 p.m.
The Barbasol Horizon League Tournament will begin next week. Current season ticket holders can lock in their seats for next season and will receive complimentary admission to both semifinal games with a $50 deposit. New season ticket holders can also receive complimentary admission by putting a deposit down towards seats next season.
