What happens when a team that has won ten games in a row goes up against two of the worst teams in their conference? Apparently two close games until the end of each when Cleveland State decided to take over.
Home game vs. Detroit Mercy
This game started off exactly how no one thought it would: a 4-0 Titan lead. The Vikings quickly tied it up with buckets by Reece Robinson and Tevin Smith. The Robinson reverse layup was courtesy of a beautiful pass by Smith as well.
The teams exchanged baskets before the media timeout to start the contest tied at eight. Next up, the Titans hit two threes as Cleveland State got to the rim for three layups.
With the score tied at 14 for the second media timeout, Vikings fans received a welcome sight: Cole Franklin checking in the game for the first time since November 29 because of injury. After the game both Smith and Stevenson talked about having Franklin back. “Cole brings a defensive mindset,” mentioned Smith. “Our strength is in our numbers,” added Stevenson. Before his injury he had been averaging 7.8 points and he started multiple games for the Vikings.
The Titans grabbed a 20-16 lead midway through the half but a technical foul on Grant Gondrezick II gave Cleveland Statetwo free shots. Continuing their cold shooting to start the game, Staveskie only converted on one of the free throws before a tip-in by the Titans gave them a 22-17 lead.
Amazing freshman Je’Shawn Stevenson did amazing freshman things with a circus shot that went down to pull the Vikings within three.
CSU continued to pressure on defense and forced the Titans into an over-and-back violation but sloppy offense led to them being down 28-23 with 3:12 left in the half. The Vikings committed a foul right before the final media timeout of the first half and Detroit Mercy hit both shots to go up seven with 3:12 left in the half.
Smith converted on two foul shots before the Cleveland State’s defense forced a ten second violation but they came up empty on the offensive end.
One word not mentioned for the Vikings so far is three. With just over a minute left, Staveskie finally hit the Vikings’ first three. Before this shot, CSU had missed their first 11 threes.
Cleveland State forced another ten second violation but a Viking turnover led directly to a Titan layup and the Vikings couldn’t convert on their final possession of the half. Going into the locker room, the Vikings saw themselves down 34-29.
Smith came out of halftime on fire with a layup and a three. Despite this offense and even with their usual Viking defense, they couldn’t stop the Titans for the first few minutes of the second half. Detroit Mercy scored baskets on all four of their first possessions of the half. A basket with 17:15 to go put the Titans up eight and silenced the crowd.
Here are all the field goals the Titans made the rest of the game:
- A jumper by TJ Nadeau at the 1:44 mark
- A jumper by Orlando Lovejoy at the 0:15 mark.
It’s easy to see that CSU took over after this moment. A free throw by the Titans made it a nine-point game but a missed second free throw prevented them from taking a double-digit lead.
Baskets by Staveskie, Reece Robinson, and Dylan Arnett closed the gap before Staveskie tied the game at 43 with a three.
Stevenson then made possibly the play of the season as the Vikings continued with their full court press. He flew in to grab an insane steal and made a beautiful pass to Smith for the bucket to take the lead. ”[W]hen I got it I was pretty much falling out of bounds and I knew he was right behind me, so I was just like, man, hopefully he‘s ready and he made the play,” Stevenson told the media after the game. Smith added, “But yeah, we gotta keep doing it. It works.”
In all, it was a dominant 15-0 run by Cleveland State after being down by nine. Staveskie added another basket with a great drive to go up by eight. Between layups and free throws, CSU grew the lead minute by minute the rest of the way.
From 17:15 to 1:44 Detroit Mercy was held without a field goal. They had six points on free throws, but that’s 15:31 without a real basket. Some of this time was bad offense, but most of it was great pressure defense by the Vikings.
Smith put the finishing touches on the game with a three with 23 seconds left to grow the lead to 17 points. The Titans scored once more but Cleveland State won 65-50.
Key Takeaways:
- Smith showed again why he’s such an integral part of the team. He scored 23 points to go along with six rebounds, two assists, and three steals. Most important plays of the game involved Smith. The only other Viking in double figures, Stevenson scored 13 (including a perfect 4-4 at the foul line). Against the Detroit Mercy defense, he had no problem getting to the basket. CSU head coach Daniyal Robinson had nothing but great things to say about Stevenson after the game. “Je’Shawn is a crafty scorer […] He can score at all three levels. The thing that I’m most impressed with is defensively he’s been a sponge.”
- In a game where they had the same number of rebounds (36) as their opponent and shot 16.7% from three, CSU leaned on their defense. Detroit Mercy committed 17 fouls while CSU committed a measly 11. With their active defense, one would expect more fouls. At the beginning of the season, they were committing a lot of “stupid” fouls but clearly they have worked on getting in position better and helping their teammates.
- CSU had a bad, horrible, not so good day from the three point and foul lines. They finished 4-24 from three and 13-22 at the foul line. Detroit Mercy only took 11 threes (and made two) so at least they weren’t up against a high-powered offense.
- CSU continues to pull away in the second half. The last few games have seen the Vikings’ opponents come out fast and compete with CSU before the Vikings overtake them. Coach Robinson echoed this after the game. “[The Titans] were energetic. They were geared up. They were flying around to loose balls[.] They made tough shots early in the game.” With their deep bench, it’s hard to matchup properly with the Vikings as everyone outside Arnett can hit long range shots, leading to a very spaced-out offense.
Home game vs. Green Bay
The matchup between the worst versus first in the Horizon League rattled the Wolstein Center for about 35 minutes until the expected result occurred.
Even before the game, the game was on. Green Bay head coach Doug Gottlieb was measuring the height of the baskets before the game. Apparently the one was 9-11, according to Gottlieb on X.
Whatever the height of the basket, CSU’s regular starting lineup started their offensive game off with two threes. The second was by Staveskie, which was to be expected. The first one was a perfect three by Dibba. Dibba is known more for his great passing, but this three would be the start of his great shooting night.
Green Bay was able to get five points of their own, but Staveskie followed up a Green Bay three with another three. At the first timeout, Cleveland State was up 11-5 and had hit all three of their deep shots. The game was going just as the standings indicated. CSU was playing good defense and hitting their shots.
But Green Bay did not want to go down without a fight. Five straight Phoenix points had the deficit down to one before Chase Robinson calmly hit two free throws for the Vikings. Those seven points would be all the offense from both sides before the second media timeout as the score sat at 13-10, advantage CSU.
With the weather super cold outside, the Vikings suddenly went cold too. They missed three three-pointers on one possession as the Phoenix went on a 7-2 mini-run to take the lead. Smith drove to the basket and was fouled for a three-point play. His basket tied the score at 17 before the next media timeout and his free throw after took back the lead for Cleveland State.
Reece Robinson trapped Green Bay incredibly well which led to a Staveskie steal before Robinson converted on a three on the other end. Dibba next hit his second three in front of the bench but a technical on Dibba gave Green Bay free throws. They missed the first one so CSU still led 25-18.
Dylan Arnett responded to a Green Bay basket with his signature monster dunk of the game. From this moment on (27-20 CSU), Green Bay grabbed all the momentum and clawed back into the game before the half. A Ben Tweedy three with just over a minute left tied the game at 31 before a Preston Ruedinger layup put the Phoenix back on top with 26 seconds to go in the half.
Smith came in clutch for the Vikings with an and-1 to pull CSU back in front and they went into halftime with a 34-33 lead. It could have been a larger lead as Smith also stole the ball and was fouled on a shot right before the half ended but he missed both free throws.
There were 17 fouls called in the first half. That’s not a lot but not crazy. The first few minutes of the second half saw a foul-apalooza.
Green Bay committed three fouls (on one defensive possession!) and Staveskie grabbed his third and fourth fouls 14 seconds apart around the 18-minute mark. Only up four points, CSU now had to play a substantial amount of time without their best shooter.
New Phoenix Yonathan Levy hit a three to pull Green Bay to within one before Dibba hit his third three of the game. Levy got right back to the basket for two but Smith negated his basket with a bucket of his own.
With Levy getting to the basket with ease, Isaac Abidde entered to try something different. It looked liked the right idea but then Levy made a nice pass to Tweedy who got the bucket and a free throw.
Levy next hit another three (this one as the shot clock expired) and somehow the score was tied at 44 with about 13 minutes to play. Smith and Chase Robinson both had nice jumpers but the Phoenix kept getting to the basket for layups and the score stayed tied. Levy briefly put Green Bay back in front with a free throw but Chase Robinson was fouled while making a layup and sunk the free throw.
The next five minutes saw CSU build a five to seven point lead before Green Bay came right back over and over. With 6:34 to play, the game was still incredibly close as the Vikings clung to a 61-58 lead (until the referees reviewed a previous shot by Staveskie and called it a two. Instead it was 60-58).
The rest of the way was all Cleveland State. The Vikings would end the game on a 21-8 run and dominated the Phoenix on both ends of the floor. Seven of these 21 points came at the line while Reece Robinson added a three and layup to go with a Stevenson three.
The Phoenix continued to turn the ball over and looked exhausted. A Smith dunk with 36 seconds left put the final nail in the coffin. It may have been close most of the game but CSU won 81-66 for their 12th straight win as Green Bay dropped their 17th in a row. “We took care of our home court, [and it] gives us an opportunity to go on the road and put pressure on [Purdue-Fort Wayne],” mentioned Coach Robinson after the game.
Key Takeaways:
- Dibba had arguably his best game of the season. He finished with 14 points (3-4 on threes), three assists, and two rebounds. He was +14 in the game. With Staveskie in foul trouble early in the second half, Dibba did a great job getting everyone involved. Coach Robinson after the game was all smiles and talked about Dibba’s impact. “Their game plan obviously was to sag off of him. He stepped up and made those open threes and [sic] he’s got great leadership. He’s just a winner. He’s a winner.”
- The other story of the game was the Robinsons. Chase finished with a team-high 17 points and four rebounds. He hit some big shots when Green Bay was making their runs. Coach Robinson had great things to say about Chase. “He’s a savvy vet and you know, he’s a starter, but we’re using him in that Sixth Man role. If he’s not the Sixth Man of the Year right now in our league, I don’t know who is.” Reece finished with another double-double (14 points and 11 rebounds). He was +25 in the game. The two of them also shot 15 combined free throws. Coach Robinson also had great things to say about his son. “We needed it. And so, [sic] he grew up a little bit tonight.”
- CSU again controlled the boards. They out-rebounded Green Bay 42-28. Outside of Levy, no one truly was able to get any rebounds for the Phoenix. Smith had eight boards to go with Reece Robinson’s 11.
- To help the Robinsons and Dibba, Staveskie and Smith both scored in double figures. It’s been said before, but who are teams supposed to guard? Between these five plus Arnett, Stevenson, Debrick, Franklin, and Abidde, anyone can score for the Vikings.
- This game could have been over much sooner. The Vikings have shot well at the free throw line this year but this game was horrible. They shot 16-30 and gave away a lot of points to let Green Bay stick around. Hopefully this gets straightened out before the conference tournament.
Bonus Fun Info
Since the movie and book Moneyball is about a long win streak, Tevin Smith, Chase Robinson, and Coach Robinson were asked who would play them in a movie about this CSU season and win streak.
Smith said Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas in Stranger Things and Dru Joyce III in Shooting Stars) before telling Chase his should be Michael B. Jordan (Adonis in the Creed movies and Killmonger in Black Panther). Coach Robinson of course turned it back to his team as he said “[The movie] will be about the guys that are playing and going through life with an edge.” Some others in the media room decided Denzel Washington or Idris Elba would be good choices for Coach Robinson but right now, CSU would take the real Daniyal Robinson over anyone.
Photo courtesy Greg Kula
Next up for the Vikings:
CSU (16-6, 10-1 HL) travels to Purdue-Fort Wayne (15-7, 8-3 HL) Thursday to take on one of the teams in second place in the Horizon League (tied with Milwaukee).
