CLEVELAND, OH--- The Vikings opened the season at the Wolstein Center with a bang, coming off a tough 79-77 loss to Duquesne, they rebounded tremendously with a stellar 102-41 victory over the Defiance College Yellowjackets. This game was technically a exhibition game for Defiance, as they are a D-3 team and are only limited to 25 games a season, this is the last year for the Yellowjackets in the NCAA.
CSU was in control all game, not missing a beat, being up by as much as 42-15 at one point in the first half, that was thanks to Jayson Woodrich off the bench. Woodrich has been on fire from 3 in the past 2 games, in the first half, Woodrich had 9 points and was 3 for 3 from 3 point range. Woodrich finished with 13 points, making 4 of his 5 attempts from behind the arc. The Kryptonite for the Yellowjackets all night was turnovers, which gave the Vikings one of their biggest outlets of offense was their points off Defiance's turnovers, the Yellowjackets turned the ball over 32 times, leading to 47 points off those turnovers for Cleveland State. Another notable first half performance was from Dylan Arnett, he would score 9 points on 3 dunks. The Vikings would take a 48-21 lead into halftime that only grew bigger in the second half.
A surprisingly quiet player in the first half was Drew Lowder, but he would make his presence known in the 2nd half opening quickly with 2 quick 3s to give the Vikings early momentum. CSU would go on a late 26-0 run in the last few minutes of the game, a notable play from that run was an extremely athletic dunk from Jalin Rice, Rice would finish with a career high 11 points, making 5 of his 8 field goals attempted. In the first 15:22 of the 2nd half, the Vikings were on a 42-13 run that featured not only Rice's athletic dunk, but also some dunks that you would only see on NBA All Star weekend. The Vikings would have 6 players in double figures, leading the way was Ramar Pryor with 14, followed by Jayson Woodrich with 13, Jalin Rice and Tae Williams both had 11 points, along with Tristan Enaruna and KJ Debrick pairing with 10 points.
The Vikings will host Ohio Saturday, looking to get the first win over the Bobcats in school history. Tip off is set for 6:00 and you can hear it on Fox Sports 1350 The Gambler.