The way both teams shot in the first half, you’d be forgiven if you’d expect the first team between Cleveland State and Youngstown State to hit 50 points would win.
Well, you wouldn’t be entirely off.
In a low-scoring affair, you would think that the advantage would be in the favor for the Vikings, who have been the best defensive team in the entire Horizon League.
But it was the third-seeded Penguins who best CSU in this low-scoring affair, handing the Vikings the 56-54 defeat to advance to the finals of the Horizon League Tournament for the first time ever, while sending second-seeded CSU home.
“Those guys gave everything they had,” Cleveland State head coach Daniyal Robinson said. “We knew it was going to be this type of game, and so give them a ton of credit. To our guys, man, it’s a special time of the year. But you know when it’s over, it’s over. And so, this is crushing.”
For the fans at Corteva Coliseum, it was clear from the early going that this match-up was going to be a rock fight, as it took two and a half minutes for anyone to score. That ended up being Dylan Arnett. YSU answered with a three-pointer by Cris Carroll. Then, the drought for both teams began.
The Vikings could not get anything going, even as Youngstown State started pulling away. With the deficit at nine, CSU broke a span of over nine minutes without sinking a field goal, courtesy of a three-pointer by Horizon League Freshman of the Year Je’Shawn Stevenson.
Once Cleveland State got going, the Vikings slowly but sure chipped away at the lead. And when Tahj Staveskie hit a triple at the end of the first half, cutting the Youngstown State lead to a single points, 22-21.
It appeared that to start the second half, the momentum swung in CSU’s direction, taking this lead on a Tevin Smith trey a minute into the second half, then opening up a seven-point advantage, thanks to Ebrima Dibba cleaning up the glass on the offensive end and dropping a lay-in.
An 12-3 run by the Penguins, capped by a three-pointer by Siem Uijtendaal at the 13:31 mark, put the Vikings in a two-point hole again. And then, it was a back-and-forth affair for the remainder of the game, with CSU and YSU trading punches throughout.
With 1:08 left, Smith drained a pair of free throws to put the Vikings back up by two, but then disaster struck, as Youngstown State’s Ty Harper hit a three, was fouled by Chase Robinson, and completed the four-point play, giving Penguins the two-point edge once again.
Cleveland State had two chances to tie or retake the lead in the closing minute. First, Smith’s three with 33 seconds left fell short. Then, after a pair of missed free throws by YSU’s Nico Galette gave the Vikings another opportunity, two Smith lay-up attempts would not go, and Galette’s steal as time expired sealed the game.
In the end, CSU was led by three players in double figures, with Smith finishing with 14 points, Stevenson chipping in 11, and Staveskie adding 10.
For outgoing seniors Smith, Dibba and Chase Robinson, Daniyal Robinson praised them for their efforts during their time as Vikings.
“We start our days at 7:30, and we go,” Robinson said of Smith and Chase Robinson. “And we asked these guys to do a ton. Ao their growth on the court is a byproduct of all the things that they do leading up to the games. And the hours they spend on working on their game the hours they spend, studying in general, all those things, and I’m just really proud of them that.”
The loss puts Cleveland State at 21-12. A CBI or CIT bid may yet be in the offing, but at this point, nothing has been confirmed.
