Planning the future of Cardale Jones… WFNY Roundtable
January 14, 2015Not panicking over the Cleveland Cavaliers… yet – WFNY Podcast – 2015-01-15
January 15, 2015Don’t despair, Cleveland basketball fans. There’s one team with a winning record in the Forest City.
The Cleveland State Vikings (10-9, 4-1 in Horizon League) did not play outstanding basketball Wednesday night in Dayton, where they squared off with the Wright State Raiders (10-8, 2-2). They shot a cover-your-eyes bad 3-of-19 from the three-point line. They committed 15 turnovers and 19 fouls. They were outscored 15 to 7 at the free throw stripe. But unlike, ahem, some teams around town, the Vikings made plays when it counted and defeated the Raiders 55-50.
Neither team scored for two and a half minutes of second-half play after a Marlin Mason layup made the score 49-48 in Wright State’s favor. WSU’s Kendall Griffin split a pair of free throws to put the Raiders up by two with 1:31 to play, and the Vikings were caught in a tough spot.
The offense that looked so sloppy for much of the second half came alive in the closing minutes. Mason found Andre Yates all alone on the left wing, and Yates—who had scored exactly zero points in the game’s first 38-and-a-half minutes—knocked down a three-ball to put CSU up by one with 1:19 to go.
Wright State missed a three on its next possession, Anton Grady hauled in the rebound, and Gary Waters called timeout. The Vikings worked the clock, and the ball swung to Trey Lewis. Lewis, who missed all six of his tries from long range, drove inside, took a bump, made the layup, and got three the hard way to put the Vikes up four with 24 seconds to go.
Wright State missed one last three and Cleveland State got the rebound. Charlie Lee split two freebies to set the final margin, and the Vikings climbed back over .500 for the season.
It wasn’t pretty, but it’ll do. As poorly as the Vikes shot from outside, they converted well in the paint, and those inside conversions lifted them to nearly 48 percent from the field. Anton Grady registered a double-double, scoring 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting and pulling down 10 rebounds. He scored on muscular drop steps and feathery jumpers, and provided a steady offensive presence throughout.
Marlin Mason scored 14, including two of CSU’s three made triples. Trey Lewis added 13, representing a nice bounce back after scoring 5 in the past two games combined. The Viking bench was largely ineffective, though Demonte Flannigan scored three first-half buckets to give CSU an early lift.
The win improves the Vikings’ road record to 3-7. Most of their wounds were self-inflicted in Dayton, and they did well to come away with a victory. They did not force turnovers at their usual rate, but their defense forced Wright State to burn clock and take tough shots.
The Raiders, for their part, will look at this game as one that got away. They shot 15-of-24 from the line, with three misses in the final four minutes. Two of the misses were by Michael Karena on the front end of one-and-ones. Karena played well—he was the game’s high scorer with 18—but those late clankers will be the shots that he remembers most.
Cleveland State is now ranked second in the Horizon League behind only 3-0 Green Bay, the preseason favorite. The Vikings’ next game is Saturday, January 17, at Youngstown State.
Other Notes
- The win was extra sweet for Andre Yates, who was playing in his hometown. Yates attended Dayton Dunbar High, and led his team to a 28-0 record and a state championship in 2012.
- Charlie Lee scored just one point on 0-of-4 shooting, ending a streak of seven consecutive double-digit scoring efforts. He also received a technical in the first half for knocking the ball out of a Raider’s hands after being whistled for a foul.
- A member of the Wright State ROTC rappelled down from the rafters to present the game ball to the officials, which is the most inventive bit of pregame ceremony that I have ever seen. Well done.
- Tom Hanks—as in Hollywood actor Tom Hanks, star of Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan, and Toy Story—is a major supporter of Wright State’s “Rise.Shine” campaign, and a commercial starring Hanks ran during the telecast. I have no idea when or how this connection was forged, but it was. Check it out:
- Vinny Zollo had a rough night. He scored two points and committed two fouls. Worse, the Wright State announcers mispronounced his surname all night, saying “ZAH-lo” instead of “ZO-lo.” Chin up, Vin.
- The Viking bench did not add much to the action. Freshman guard/Tasmanian devil Terrell Hales went scoreless, as did Kaza Keane. Again: despite the ineffective bench, the frigid long-range shooting, the turnovers, and the fouls, Cleveland State got a victory. These guys will have something to say about how the Horizon League standings shake out.
5 Comments
very cool. glad to see CSU get off to such a good start in conference play, especially after an underwhelming non-conference effort. thanks for giving such good coverage to CSU this year. I hope the locals give them a shot and come out and see them play. I try to get to a couple of games per year and I think they offer a good fan experience overall. I struggle to understand why they do not draw more and would think that 5-6 thousand per night is within the realm of reasonable in a market of this size. Tickets are affordable, parking is cheap and easy, concessions include beer, and on the court you will see effort and team play. The team is largely made up of local kids. Pre/postgame a couple of decent options to grab a beer, meet your friends, or get something to eat around a largely remodeled CSU campus. Will, I’d love to explore the barriers to consistently decent (I’m setting a low standard) attendance at the Wolstein Center. Any ideas? Maybe all of us should try to attend an upcoming game. Their last game in January is the last Saturday in January – a 2pm tip. Might be interesting to have a bunch of folks go and share their perspectives/impressions/thoughts about their experience. Make this a WFNY day out? Any interest from the readers at large organizing something formal? Let’s adopt these guys?!
Booooo…
Definitely an intriguing idea. Will revisit this when they come back home. They have six home games left (I believe), five of which are on the weekend. It’s great to see more folks interested in them.
Your coverage is a breath of fresh air in Cleveland! As an ex-CSU dad, CSU will always be competitive with Waters at the helm. The immediate goal has to be a top conference seed (even title) and winning the conference tourney to go dancing! Competing with a pro franchise in town (with LBJ) is difficult, but the added exposure can help a grow a quality program. The arena is too large, and local kids help draw, but until students embrace the program, similar to a VCU (no pro team) drawing will be tough. A trip to the dance is the most important thing they can accomplish that’s under their control! As an ex New Yorker too… You Gotta Believe!
Thank you very much. Agreed all around; I think/hope they can win the conference tourney this year.