Peoria, IL-Heart. It is a five-letter word, and a five-letter acronym, that embodies the core values of the Cleveland State men's basketball program. The Vikings showed lots of heart down the stretch in defeating Bradley for their first road victory of the 2023-24 season. The game was tight throughout, with neither team holding a lead larger than seven points. The Vikings earned a 76-69 win thanks to a late comeback and stellar free throw shooting in the final minutes.
Cleveland State improves to 7-5 on the season, while Bradley falls to 6-4.
The game featured nine lead changes and 12 ties. The Vikings out-rebounded the Braves 36-30, including a 14-9 edge on the offensive glass, leading to 11 second-chance points. Cleveland State forced 16 Bradley turnovers, the second highest number the Braves have committed this season.
The Viking offense was led by the two-headed monster of Drew Lowder and Tristan Enaruna. The two combined for 49 points and finished a combined 11-of-13 from the free throw line.
Lowder led all scorers in the game with 26 points, one shy of his career high. He tied a career high with six three-pointers in the game, almost all of which came in critical situations. Lowder finished 8-of-16 from the field and added a career-high four steals.
Enaruna finished with 23 points on 7-of-16 from the floor. He connected on two of his four three-point tries, including a dagger triple with 1:38 remaining that pushed the Viking lead to two possessions.
The first half was a low scoring seesaw battle. Neither team held a lead of more than four points and the lead changed hands five times. The Vikings closed the half on a 7-3 run over the final 2:21 to take a 30-27 lead into the halftime locker room. Enaruna recorded the last five points of the run, connecting on a three-pointer followed by a mid-range jump shot in the final seconds to give Cleveland State momentum headed into the second half.
The Vikings carried that momentum forward. Bradley quickly tied the score at 34 with a Christian Davis three-pointer with 17:35 remaining. Following that basket, Cleveland State outscored the Braves 10-3 over the next two minutes to give CSU its largest lead of the night. Lowder started the run with a three-pointer to put the Vikings back in front, and Enaruna finished the rally with a second-chance layup, igniting the Viking bench and forcing the Braves to call a timeout with 15:27 left to play.
The Braves responded with a 7-0 run to tie the score back up at 44 with a little over 12 minutes remaining. The two teams traded baskets over the next four minutes and the score remained tied at 55 headed into the under-8 media timeout.
The Braves owned the next four-minute stretch, outscoring the Vikings 9-4 to take a five-point lead with 3:53 left. It was 64-59 Bradley.
Cleveland State did not blink. The Vikings responded with a closing run that would seal the game. Enaruna nailed two free throws coming out of the game's final media timeout to trim the deficit to three. Bradley then missed the front end of a one-and-one, and on the ensuing possession Lowder drilled a clutch three-pointer to even the score at 64.
Following another defensive stop, Enaruna converted two more free throws to put CSU back in front 66-64 with 2:20 remaining. He followed that up with the dagger three-pointer that pushed the lead to five, 69-64 with 1:38 to go.
Lowder capped the run with two free throws to make it 71-64 with 1:14 remaining. When all was said and done, the Vikings went on an 12-0 run over two minutes and 55 seconds of action, which turned a five-point deficit to a seven-point lead with a little over a minute to play. Enaruna and Lowder combined to score all 12 points in the late flurry.
The Vikings salted the game away at the free throw line, with critical makes down the stretch. Cleveland State finished 16-of-20 from the charity stripe for the game, good for 80 percent. The Vikings also shot a sizzling 52 percent from three-point range(10-19).
The victory caps a three-game road swing for the Vikings, who return to the Wolstein Center to host Western Michigan on Thursday, December 21. Tip-off against the Broncos is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
