Photo: Frank Jansky
PITTSBURG, PA--- The season opener for the Vikings didn't disappoint Monday night, as Cleveland State would unfortunately lost a thriller in Duquesne 79-77. These 2 teams coming in couldn't have been more identical, CSU finished 21-14 last year with the Dukes finishing 20-13, this would ultimately be the tale of the game where no team would lead by more then 5 points.
Duquesne is phenomenal in openers, especially when they open at home, they are an astonishing 84-4 when opening the season at home, 89-19 overall in season openers. Tae Williams got the Vikes off to a hot start, scoring the teams first 5 points starting 3 for 3 from the field, he would stay hot all game, finishing with 21 points and 11 rebounds. These 2 teams were a mirror image of each other, after the first half, both teams finished with almost the same field goal percentage, CSU at 47%, and the Dukes at 45%. Once the game was over? CSU 43% from the field, Duquesne? 42% form the field. The only category that wasn't very close was 3 point percentage, CSU finished making 45% of their shots form behind the arc while the Dukes only made 33%.
The Dukes came out hot in the second half, scoring the first 6 points very quickly, but with the help of Drew Lowder, the lead would not exceed 5 as he would finish with a career high in points and 3 pointers made, Lowder finished with 27 points, making 6 of his 9 3 pointers attempted and also with 4 assists. The game was tied 13 times with 13 lead changes. The Vikings will come home to host Defiance College at 7:00pm and it will air on Fox Sports 1350 The Gambler and the free iHeartRadio app.