Game 34 - Horizon League Semifinals
No. 7 Cleveland State vs. No. 1 Oakland
Cleveland State Game Notes | Oakland Game Notes
Indiana Farmer's Coliseum - Indianapolis, IN
7:00 p.m.
All-Time vs. Oakland: 13-15
Last Meeting: 2/3/24 83-71 L
Tickets: horizonleague.org
Radio: Fox Sports 1350 AM
Play-By-Play: Al Pawlowski, Pat Vuyancih, Ed Daugherty(Host)
TV: ESPNU
Play-By-Play: Jordan Bernfield, David Padgett
SETTING THE SCENE
The Cleveland State Men's Basketball team advances to the Semifinal round of the Barbasol Horizon League Tournament for the fourth straight year as the Vikings get set to take on Oakland on Monday night in Indianapolis. Cleveland State advanced to the semifinals with victories over no. 10 IUPUI in the first round followed by taking down no. 2 seed Youngstown State on the road in the Quarterfinals. Oakland is the top seed in the tournament after winning the Horizon League regular season title and defeating no. 8 seed Purdue Fort Wayne in the Quarterfinals.
THE CLEVELAND STATE/OAKLAND SERIES
Monday's game is the 29th all-time meeting between Cleveland State and Oakland. The Golden Grizzlies hold a slight 15-13 edge in the series. This marks the third time the two teams have met in the Horizon League Tournament, with Cleveland State winning the previous two meetings. The Vikings defeated the Golden Grizzlies 44-43 in the 2018 Semifinal Round, and defeated OU 80-69 in the title game in 2021 to clame the Horizon League Tournament title. The two teams split the two meetings in the regular season, with each team winning on its home floor. The Vikings defeated OU 75-67 on December 28 in Cleveland, with Oakland winning 83-71 in Rochester on February 3.
CLEVELAND STATE EARNS ROAD QUARTERFINAL VICTORY AT YOUNGSTOWN STATE
Cleveland State defeated Youngstown State on Thursday to advance to the Horizon League Tournament Semifinals. Road teams were 1-11 in the Quarterfinal Round coming into Thursday's action and the Vikings were one of three lower seeds to advance. Cleveland State did it without first-team all-league performer Tristan Enaruna who missed the game due to injury. Chase Robinson led a group of four Vikings in double figures with a career-high 20 points. Cleveland State secured its third consecutive 20-win season with the victory.
CLEVELAND STATE DOWNS ROBERT MORRIS FOR TENTH #HLMBB WIN
Cleveland State defeated Robert Morris on the road on Sunday afternoon to claim its tenth league victory and improve to 10-8 in Horizon League competiton. The Vikings held a double-digit lead at the half before a furious RMU comeback eventually evened the score in the final minutes. Drew Lowder made a driving layup with one second remaining to secure the 73-71 road victory. Tristan Enaruna tallied 24 points and Tae Williams finished with 15. Lowder added 10 including the game-winner.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN GRIZZLIES
Oakland is 21-11 and finished 15-5 in Horizon League regular season play to earn the top seed in the league tournament. The Golden Grizzlies advanced to the Semifinals with a win over Purdue Fort Wayne on Thursday night. Oakland is led by Horizon League Player of The Year Trey Townsend who averages 16.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Greg Kampe is in his 40th season as the head coach, the longest tenured coach in all of Division I. Kampe is four wins shy of 700 in his coaching career.
CLEVELAND STATE PICKS UP COMEBACK WIN OVER YOUNGSTOWN STATE
Cleveland State defeated Youngstown State on Saturday afternoon by a final score of 81-73 thanks to a monster game from Tristan Enaruna and several key second half surges. The Vikings trailed by four at the break and by as many as eight early in the second half before a late surge propelled them to victory. Enaruna finished one shy of a career high with 31 points, and Tae Williams added 18 with 10 coming in the second half.
CLEVELAND STATE EARNS ROAD VICTORY AT PURDUE FORT WAYNE
Cleveland State defeated Purdue Fort Wayne on Wednesday night 75-72 to earn its fourth road victory and second in three games. The Vikings came from 11 points down in the second half to earn a come-from-behind win. Tristan Enaruna struck for 24 points, his fifth consecutive game with 23 or more, to lead the way for the Vikings. Drew Lowder was critical to the second half comeback, scoring all 20 of his points after halftime including connecting on seven of nine field goal attempts in the second half.
CLEVELAND STATE EARNS COMEBACK WIN OVER ROBERT MORRIS
Cleveland State defeated Robert Morris on Sunday afternoon at the Wolstein Center to move to 6-5 in league play. The Vikings earned a comeback win after trailing for a majority of the second half before a late charge put Cleveland State ahead and allowed the Vikings to hold off RMU for a two-point win, 66-64. Tristan Enaruna recorded his second consecutive game of 28 points, finishing 11-19 from the field and a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line. Jayson Woodrich came off the bench and provided a critical offensive spark, hitting two key three-pointers early in the second half en route to a 12-point performance.
HOME SWEET HOME
Cleveland State has made a habit of protecting its home court throughout the last two seasons. The Vikings are 14-3 at home this season and have a 27-6 overall record in Cleveland in the Daniyal Robinson era. Cleveland State is outscoring opponents by over 10 points per game in home contests this season.
GOING TO THE OFFENSIVE GLASS
Through the Horizon League season, the Vikings have been one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the conference. Cleveland State ranks fourth in the league in offensive rebounding, averaging 12.6 offensive rebounds per contest in league play.
20 WIN CAMPAIGN FOR THE THIRD YEAR IN A ROW
With Thursday's victory, Cleveland State has amassed 20-plus wins for the third year in a row. The Vikings have also made three straight postseason appearances and will be looking to add a fourth this season, which would be a program record. Daniyal Robinson is the most successful two-year head coach in program history, becoming the first coach to win 20 games in his first two years in charge in the history of the progam. Robinson has amassed 41 total victories and counting in his first two seasons.
FOURTH STRAIGHT SEMIFINAL APPEARANCE
Cleveland State is making its fourth sraight trip to the Horizon League Semifinals. The Vikings are 2-1 in semifinal games over the past three seasons, advancing to the championship in 2021 and 2023. A win on Monday would give the Vikings a third Championship Game appearance in the past four seasons. In addition, this also marks the fourth consecutive year that both the men's and women's programs have made it to the Semifinals. Cleveland State is the only league school with both teams in the Semifinals this season.
ENARUNA TAKES HOME HORIZON LEAGUE HARDWARE
Tristan Enaruna has earned multiple accolades from the Horizon League in the past week. He was named as one of five student-athletes to the league's All-Academic Team on Thursday. Enaruna is the first CSU men's basketball student-athlete to be recognized by the league on the all-academic team. He carries a 3.49 GPA as a Communications Studies major. On Monday he was named to the all-league first team for the secondc consecutive year. Enaruna ranks second in the league in scoring at 20.2 points per game.
DREW LOWDER NAMED #HLMBB PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Following a 26-point night against Bradley on Friday, senior guard Drew Lowder was named the Horizon League Men's Basketball Player of the Week, the league office announced on Monday. Lowder finished one point shy of his career high, set in the season opener at Duquesne, and tied his career best with six three-pointers in nine attempts. He also registered a career-high four steals. Lowder helped ignite the Vikings down the stretch, as he scored five points as part of the closing 12-0 run that secured the victory. Lowder hit the game-tying three-pointer with 3:23 remaining and the Vikings led for good after that point. This is Lowder's first league player of the week award.
UP NEXT
With a win on Monday, the Vikings will advance to Tuesday night's Horizon League Championship game and play the winner of no. 5 seed Northern Kentucky and No. 6 seed Milwaukee. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN or ESPN2 at 7:00 p.m. with radio coverage available on WTAM 1100 AM.
