Rarely do Summers seasons start on brisk November evenings. However, the Rob Summers era at the helm of Cleveland State opened at Loyola-Chicago last night with a 91-88 loss that treated Vikings fans to a blistering pace, 20 lead changes, and ultimately, heartbreak.
Summers donned the same green tie he wore while an Assistant Coach at CSU during the Dennis Gates tenure but brought an entirely new roster of 15 Vikings and fresh style of play on the Vikings’ maiden road siege.
When Vikings venture westward to foreign shores, they are expectedly met with hostility. In proper Viking fashion, Cleveland State charged into Loyola’s Gentile Arena, steps from the shores of Lake Michigan, fearlessly and unfazed by the booming Ramblers student section.
The promise of tempo was kept as the Vikings blitzed out to a 51-50 halftime lead, captained by the “Swiss Army Knife” George Washington transfer, Dayan Nessah’s 17 first half points on just 8 shots. Both teams raced up and down the floor exchanging 13 first half leads. Foster Wonders aka “The Pride of Iron Mountain” aka “The 8th Wonders of the World” hit his first three for his second Horizon team, fostering hope for Vikings fans everywhere. Ohioan Jaidon Lipscomb converted a massive go-ahead four-point play in the final minutes of the half despite a hard foul by A-10 All-Defensive Team center Miles Rubin.
Out of the gate in the second half, the Ramblers took control behind a trio of Chuck Love threes within 70 seconds. The Vikings stayed within striking distance until an astonishing 11-0 run capped by a slick lefty finger roll by Nessah gave the Vikings an 81-80 lead at the under 4:00 timeout. An anxious Ramblers crowd was silenced by yet another Ohioan, Tre Beard, whose clutch game tying three and go-ahead free throws brought the Vikings in front by 2 with just 0:43 remaining.
The Vikings came out of the timeout with a monumental defensive stop but couldn’t break Loyola’s desperate full court press, turning it over on an errant pass. Loyola head coach and former Horizon League legend Drew Valentine called another timeout and “Drew” up a pick play three for Deywilk Tavarez who sunk the bucket and free throw on a close-out foul by Josiah Harris. A controversial goaltend tied the game 88-88 but gave the Ramblers the ball with 9 seconds to win the game. After another Valentine timeout with 2 seconds remaining, a similar pick screen gave Tavarez an open look. He sunk the three as the buzzer sounded above the crowd’s roar. The 0.5 seconds put back on the clock were not enough for a Vikings miracle as Cleveland State walked off the court wondering “what ifs”.
Despite the heartbreak, the silver linings were bountiful for Cleveland State on the sunrise of the Summers era. The Vikings took the Ramblers who are expected to be frontrunners in the A-10 and 21-3 at home in the past two seasons from tape to tape. Despite being picked to finish 8th in the preseason, Cleveland State looked like a team capable of competing for the Horizon League title. Nessah looked like an All-Horizon candidate with a 25pts/11rebs double-double in his first game as a Viking.
I had the chance to catch up with Summers after his debut:
He praised his team for their high transition value rate, ability to get out and run, and for staying in the moment. He recognized that they knew what they had in Nessah, liked the looks they got for Wonders, and encouraged the Horizon veteran to keep shooting.
When asked what he told his guys following the heartbreaking early loss, Summers stated, “I’m just very proud of them. They say don’t take moral victories and I don’t, but I’m just proud of their effort. With a team of 15 new guys, you never know because they just met each other three months ago, but they look like a team that’s been together for a long time”. Further adding “We want to be the best version of ourselves come March” and noting what a good building block this game was for his team before entering Horizon play.
Perhaps most importantly for #HLMBBFashion followers, Summers confirmed he sported the same green tie he wore during the Gates era, and he’ll continue wearing it!
Next up for the Vikings is a stop home for a game against Capital University on Thursday then they come right back to the Chicago area for their second westerly conquest against the Northwestern Wildcats next Monday, just 6 miles up the road from Loyola.
Your Horizon Boy will be on hand next week in Evanston with continued coverage of the Vikings, but for the rest of the year be sure to follow Greg Kula (@gkula13) for Cleveland State Men’s Basketball content all season long!
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