All-Time vs. Milwaukee: 28-33
Last Meeting: 2/25/23 81-72 L
Tickets: horizonleague.org
Radio: 1350 AM The Gambler
Play-By-Play: Al Pawlowski, Pat Vuyancih
TV: ESPN2
SETTING THE SCENE
The Cleveland State Men's Basketball team continues the Barbasol Horizon League Tournament with a semifinal matchup against Milwaukee. The Vikings advanced to the semis with a dramatic, come-from-behind win over Robert Morris in the quarterfinals on Thursday night. The Vikings are making their third consecutive appearance in the semifinal round. Milwaukee is the no. 2 seed in the tournament bracket, and cruised past Wright State in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinal round, winning 87-70. This is a matchup of two head coaches in their first season at their respective schools.
THE CLEVELAND STATE/MILWAUKEE SERIES
Monday's game is the 62nd all-time meeting between Cleveland State and Milwaukee. The Vikings trail in the all-time series 33-28. Milwaukee has won both matchups between the two teams this season. The Panthers squeaked out a 68-64 overtime victory at the Wolstein Center on January 5th, and won 81-72 in the final game of the regular season last week in Milwaukee. Cleveland State held the lead in the second half of both games, but the Panthers were able to flip the script and prevail in both games. Tristan Enaruna and Tae Williams have scored in double figures in both matchups for CSU.
ENARUNA, PARKER AND JOHNSON EARN #HLMBB POSTSEASON AWARDS
Tristan Enaruna, Deshon Parker and Deante Johnson were recognized on the Horizon League's posteason awards list which were announced earlier this week. Enaruna was named to the first team, and Parker and Johnson were named to the all-defensive team. Enaruna ranks in the top ten in scoring and rebounding in the conference, and has registered 18 consecutive games in double figures. Parker earns all-defensive team honors for the first time, after ranking in the top 15 in the league in steals. Johnson lands on the all-defensive team for the third straight year, after finishing third in the league in blocked shots with 1.4 per game.
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
Milwaukee is the no. 2 seed in the Horizon League Tournament after a 20-10 reg- ular season. The Panthers defeated seventh-seed Wright State in the quarterfinal round 87-70 to advance to the semifinals. Milwaukee is led by Ahmad Rand, the league's defensive player of the year, and BJ Freeman who was named to the all- league second team. The Panthers are led by Bart Lundy, who is also in his first year at the helm in Milwaukee.
LAST TIME OUT: VIKINGS DEFEAT ROBERT MORRIS IN OT THRILLER
Cleveland State defeated Robert Morris on Thursday to move to the semifinal round of the Barbasol Horizon League Tournament. The Vikings prevailed 75-70 in overtime after trailing for the majority of the contest. RMU had a double-digit lead midway through the second half, before the Vikings stormed back to tie the game in the final seconds. Cleveland State finished the game on a 7-0 run to tie the score, and then dominated in the extra session to prevail. Tristan Enaruna finished with 23 points to lead the way for the Vikings.
VIKINGS IN THE HORIZON LEAGUE TOURNAMENT
Cleveland State has won the Horizon League tournament twice in program history. The first title came in 2009, when recent CSU Hall Of Fame Inductee Norris Cole led the Vikings to a 57-54 win over Butler in the finals. The Vikings made it to the title game in 2017-18 but came up short, finishing as the runner-up. The next tournament title came in 2020-21 as the Vikings defeated Oakland 80-69 to capture the championship and earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
GETTING IT DONE ON DEFENSE
Throughout the season, Cleveland State has found success defensively. The Vikings are holding opponents to an average of 67.4 points per game in conference play, which is third in the Horizon League. CSU ranks second in opponent field goal percentage, at .423, and ranks third in opponent three-point percentage, holding opposing teams to just 32-percent from long range.
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 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 ON A HOT STREAK
Transfer forward Tristan Enaruna has been the spark plug for the Vikings offensively of late. The Junior from the Netherlands currently ranks 11th in the Horizon League in scoring at 14.9 ppg. Enaruna has scored in double figures in 19 consecutive games, and has registered five double-doubles thus far. Enaruna is averaging just over 17 points a game in conference play, which is eighth in the league.
PARKER NAMED TO #HLMBB ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM
Deshon Parker was named to the Horizon League Men's Basketball Honorable Mention All-Academic team, the league announced Thursday. Parker is one of eight players to receive the recognition. The senior carries a 3.64 GPA as a Com- munication Studies major. Parker is a two time Dean's List honoree and also has been named to the President's List. This fall, he was named to the Horizon League Academic Honor Roll.
SENIOR SENDOFF
Last Sunday's game marked the final regular-season home game for three Vikings: Deante Johnson, Yahel Hill and Deshon Parker. Cleveland State honored the trio in a pre-game ceremony along with their families.
WILLIAMS RISES TO THE OCCASION
Tae Williams has been a key to the Vikings' success in the early going of the regular season. Williams registered a season-high 23 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Detroit Mercy. Williams is averaging 10 points per game and has scored in double figures 16 times so far this season, including four of the last five games. He has registered back-to-back double-doubles, including a 30 point, 14 rebound performance at Green Bay last weekend.
LOWDER LIGHTS IT UP
Drew Lowder has been an energizer for Cleveland State, and played his way into the starting lineup. Lowder had a stretch of three of five games where he scored in double figures, including a season-high 16 points in the win over Oakland. He has scored in double figures in four of his last six games, including a season-high 21 in the first matchup with Green Bay.
UP NEXT
With a win, Cleveland State would continue on to play in the championship game on Tuesday night. The winner of Monday's semifinal would face the winner of top-seeded Youngstown State and fourth seed Northern Kentucky.
