Indianapolis, IN-The Cleveland State men's basketball team punched its ticket to the Barbasol Horizon League Championship Game with a 93-80 victory over Milwaukee Monday night. The Vikings never trailed in the contest, and advance to Tuesday's championship game against fourth-seeded Northern Kentucky(7:00 p.m., ESPN).
The Vikings had five players in double figures and shot a blistering 50 percent from the floor. Cleveland State raced out to a 46-28 lead in the first half and kept the lead in double digits for virtually the entire second half on its way to the championship game.
Tristan Enaruna once again led the way with 24 points, scoring in double figures for the 20th consecutive game. Enaruna finished 9-16 from the field and also added eight rebounds.
Tae Williams had another big night, finishing with 18 points and seven rebounds. Williams had several highlight-reel dunks and also added four assists on the night.\
Deante Johnson registered his fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Johnson finished an efficient 5-7 from the floor and a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line.
Yahel Hill and Ramar Pryor also finished in double figures for CSU. Hill had 11 points off the bench, finishing 3-4 from the field and 4-4 from the charity stripe. Pryor scored in double figures for the first time in a Viking uniform, registering a season high of 10 points. Pryor finished 5-7 from the field and scored all of his points in just over 12 minutes of game action.
Cleveland State took control of the game from the opening jump. Drew Lowder scored a fast-break layup off the opening tip to give the Vikings the lead just four seconds into the game.
CSU proceeded to add to the lead, going on a 10-0 run to start the game which forced a Milwaukee timeout just under two minutes into the game. Milwaukee cut the lead in half coming out of the timeout before the Vikes went on another 10-0 run to make it 20-5 Cleveland State just under seven minutes into the contest. That run prompted another Panther timeout.
The Vikings continued the offensive barrage, stretching the lead to as high as 24 points late in the first half. A late Milwaukee run cut it back to 18 points at the break, it was 46-28 CSU.
Cleveland State shot 50 percent from the floor in the first half and racked up 46 points despite not making a single three-point attempt in the opening half.
The Vikings picked up right where they left off in the second half, with the lead stretching as high as 28 points just before the first media timeout.
Milwaukee slowly chipped away and briefly cut the deficit to nine with a little over six minutes remaining, but the Panthers could draw no closer as the Vikings quickly pushed the lead back to double-digits and it remained there the rest of the way.
Cleveland State is excited to sponsor a fan bus for Viking supporters to make their way to Indianapolis for tomorrow's championship games. The bus departs the Wolstein Center early in the morning and will give fans the opportunity to see both the Women's and Men's championship games. Click HERE for more information and departure times.
