INDIANAPOLIS, IN--- The Cleveland State men's basketball team's historic season under first year head coach Daniyal Robinson has unfortunately come to an end in the Horizon League championship, losing to the Northern Kentucky Norse 63-61 Tuesday night. Coming into this matchup, these 2 teams couldn't have been more evenly matched up, both had a 21-12 overall record, both had a 14-6 record in the HL, and they split the regular season series at 1 win a piece, with each of those wins coming at home by 1 point.
The first half, and the entire game in general was extremely close, in the first half alone, there were 8 ties, and 12 lead changes, with no team leading by more then 4. Total on the night, there were 12 ties and 14 lead changes. Sam Vinson was a Viking killer in Tuesday night's game, finishing with 16 points, making 6 of his 12 FG attempts, and making all 3 of his attempted free throws. Vinson was scoring his points at crucial times in the game to keep the Vikings just behind the Norse. Marques Warrick led the game scoring with 18 points while making 11 of his 13 free throws. CSU put up a fight late in the game, led by Deshon Parker's 3 pointers, he could've and arguably should've been sent to the line after being knocked to the floor attempting a layup at the 13:11 mark, free throws would've turned the tide for CSU but the call wasn't made. Parker would finish the game with 14 points, make 6 of his 10 FG attempts and 2 of his 3 attempted 3 pointers. Enaruna would once again lead the Vikings in scoring with 17 points and make 3 of his 4 free throws.
The 2022-2023 historic season could continue for the Vikings pending an invite to the CBI post season tournament, first year head coach Daniyal Robinson has done a tremendous job with the program that was projected to finish 5th in the Horizon League, but ended up playing for the league championship. Follow @csu_basketball and @CSU_Athletics on Twitter for updates on postseason play and more.