Nov. 12, 2010
By: Robert Ivory
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CLEVELAND, Ohio- The first regular season game for the Cleveland State Vikings in the World Vision Classic got off to a shaky start, but a strong second half showing was the difference in a 71-57 win over Bryant University Friday night at the Wolstein Center.
"You have to accept what you get out there. There were some inconsistencies in our play, our defense broke down at times, especially in the press," head coach Gary Waters said. "These young men worked pretty hard so I'm not worried about that.
"We let them shoot 47% on us, that means that we are not playing the defense we are capable of playing. I feel better that they we above us in rebounding at the half, but we were able to take the lead in the second half, which was good."
The Vikings were led by their senior Norris Cole, who had 24 points and passed the 1,200-point mark as a Viking, but the keys to the game were the supporting cast as the team shot 50% as a whole.
"In my estimation, Norris is the best guard in the league and when he is at his level, no one else can be at that level," Waters said. "He wants to take it to the next level and if he takes us there, we are going to be ok."
After missing the preseason with a knee injury, Trevon Harmon got the start and got the Viking offense going, scoring 17 and went 3-for-9 from three-point range. Aaron Pogue had a big night as well, scoring nine and a team high six rebounds and contributing his big body to the middle.
"Trevon said he was ready to go this afternoon," Waters said. "When he said he was ready to go, you have to put him on the floor because he that kind of player, he is one of our energy players."
As part of his 17 points, Tre hit a three pointer early to tie the game up at 6-6 (16:36), then later got a steal and drove to rest of the court to get the basket and a 17-12 CSU lead.
"The knee is doing better but I can't focus on that," Harmon said. "This year is a new beginning and I have enough experience under my belt."
Harmon would contribute seven of the Vikings first 17 points.
Bryant kept the game very interesting as a Raphael Jordan three brought the Bulldogs within two with just 2:06 in the half.
The Vikings stretched the lead, but Bryant had a chance to get back within three in the last seconds of the first half. The Bulldogs brought the ball down after a timeout and Barry Latham missed his three point shot, only to be rebounded by Bryant's Jordan.
The Bulldogs owned the boards in the first half, outrebounding CSU 17-14 and getting seven offensive rebounds.
After the rebound, Bryant held the ball for the last shot in the half as Frankie Dobbs drove to the hole with a few ticks left, but met a waiting Aaron Pogue. Pogue drew the charge and preserved the Vikings 41-36 lead going into the half.
The foul was just a showing of play that Pogue contributed on the night. He finished just 2-4 from the field, but hit five free throws, tallied six rebounds (including three offensive), three assists, two steals, and an assist.
"I knew we had to pick up the energy," Pogue said. "I got a little smarter, too. I could have gotten a couple of fouls early, but I knew that the team needed me later in the game."
Even his coach noted how well they could be with the big man on the floor.
"He was very active today," Waters said. "He has changed his mind set, he wants to work hard and wants to be in the action out there. If he continues to do that, we are going to be very, very difficult to handle."
Using that momentum, the Vikings took the tempo to Bryant after the half and widened their gap to 50-37 on a Norris Cole dunk. Cole's basket capped a 9-1 run in the first 3:17.
Bryant would refuse to go away and got the Viking lead to just four (54-50) halfway through the final 20 minutes, using the three ball. Bryant hit seven threes on the night, but seemed to hit a three on Viking turnovers. CSU committed 14 turnovers and Bryant converted them to 17 points and had eight, second chance points.
Pogue helped the Vikings on their push to close the game. Pogue took a tough foul in the paint, two of CSU's 26 in the paint, but also hit the free throw to put Cleveland State out to a seven-point lead with 9:19 to go in the game.
"It was lucky that it went in," Pogue said. "I finished the three throw and I think that got the crowd into it and we did not look back after that"
Certainly the Vikes did not look back as Charlie Woods and Trevon Harmon hit consecutive three pointers in a 12-0 stretch to push the Vikings out to a 16 point lead and ended any threat of a come back.
Woods ended the night with 10 points off the bench, the second time he hit double digits in his career.
The Vikes continue their portion of the World Vision Classic Saturday (Nov. 13) night at 6:00 p.m. with Iona.
