CLEVELAND, OH--- The Cleveland State Men's basketball team put on a show for alumni from around the country, defeating the Ohio University Bobcats in the Vikings' homecoming game 82-78, getting their 3rd win in the all time series, and the first since a 64-61 victory on December 8th of 1998.
This game was as tight as it could be from start to finish, as it always is when the Vikings play the Bobcats, Ohio came into Saturday night's matchup 14-2 all time in 16 meetings vs CSU. In the first half, Cleveland State's largest lead was a whopping 3, which was achieved with 2:40 left in the first half at 36-33. A big help in keeping the Vikings close in the first half and throughout the game was their excellent free throw shooting, CSU was a perfect 9/9 in the first half, finishing 25/31 once the clock went to triple zeros. Once the 2nd half got going, the 3 point shot from CSU was a key part of their offense, and specifically, the Jayson Woodrich 3 pointer. Woodrich was RED hot from behind the arc, making 4 of his 5 attempts from deep, Woodrich would finish the game with 14 points. Another big performance was from Tristian Enaruna, who waited until late in the 2nd half to get going from 3, hitting a big time 3 pointer with 2:45 left in the game to make the score 77-72. Enaruna would lead the charge for CSU, finishing with 22 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists.
As the game went down the wire, Ohio wasn't going down without a fight, with 51 seconds to go, Drew Lowder would get his first points of the game on a CLUTCH 3 pointer to extend their lead out to 80-75, this lead would be cut down to 2 at 80-78 with 20 seconds left to go. Cleveland State would continue their lights out shooting from the charity stripe, icing the game and winning 82-78. Another key contributor for the Vikings was Tae Williams, who was the biggest help to their free throw performance, making 5 of his 6 free throws, finishing with 13 points and 5 rebounds.
The Vikings will be back in action again Wednesday night, hosting Canisius at 7:00 pm. Coverage starts at 6:30 on your flagship for Cleveland State Men's Basketball, Fox Sports 1350 The Gambler.