As fans glanced at the scoreboard with under a minute to go, flashbacks of three years ago went through their heads. In Daniyal Robinson’s first game at the Wolstein Center, the Vikings lost 72-68 to (now defunct) Division II Notre Dame College. This time, in Rob Summers’ first game at home as head coach, the Vikings saw a very similar game unfolding. Some way and somehow the Vikings pulled the win out this time and escaped with a 71-70 victory over D3 Capital University.
The Vikings started their same starters as the Loyola game: Foster Wonders, Jaidon Lipscomb, Tre Beard, Dayan Nessah, and Josiah Harris. The offense started off right where they left off against Loyola with a quick three by Beard and a basket (with some nice touch off the glass) for Nessah.
Nessah has had a hot start to his CSU career and part of that is due to his experience with the Swiss National U19 Team this summer. “I got my confidence back,” Nessah mentioned after the game Thursday. “I just try to be a leader on the court and be here for my teammates and be the best version of myself.”
The Comets kept it close by hitting a pair of threes and at the first media timeout the Vikings only held a 10-6 lead. This closeness would be a theme the entire night.
CSU continued to push the ball every chance they got and by the second media timeout they already had 11 fastbreak points. This quickness led directly to a nine point lead but the Comets began to chip away one point at a time .
Right around the middle of the first half both offenses slowed down. CSU put up a great defensive possession (leading to a shot clock violation) but then Capital did the same thing on the subsequent possession (leading to a shot clock violation for the Vikes). “The only time I kind of got a little bit upset tonight was when we started getting kind of scattered a little bit,” Summers said postgame.
The Viking offense was stuck under 30 points for a while and the Comets started to even up the rebounding disparity as well. Capital grabbed an offensive board and got the basket as Summers called a timeout to calm down the team as the lead was down to only four.
The Vikings outscored the Comets 11 to eight in the last few minutes of the half and took a 40-33 lead into halftime. CSU only connected on 14 baskets in the first half but had 11 assists. Basically everyone contributed with 18 of the 40 points coming off the bench (David Giddens led the way with nine).
The Comets came out of the locker room a few minutes before the Vikings (or at least it seemed that way). A 9-0 run helped Capital grab the lead before Nessah hit two free throws to knot the game at 42.
The game went back-and-forth for the next little while as both teams couldn’t go on a run. The Vikings consistently found themselves chasing the Comets on fast breaks and they “Capital-lized” on this to stay in the game.
After a three-pointer by Beard to retake the lead 57-56, Manny Hill entered the game for his first action as a Viking. The younger brother of Viking alum Yahel, Hill is one of the slew of local products on the team
This sub was the turning point (even though it stayed close the rest of the way) of the game. He went right to the rim on his first offensive play and scored and then played good defense throughout the last nine minutes of the game. “Manny Hill came in, picked up full court, and he was just a beast out there today,” said Beard after the game.
Despite this effort, CSU was never able to get completely away from Capital. They held a five-point lead with under eight minutes to go, but the Capitals hit their necessary shots and came right back.
With 33 seconds to go, Comet Dallas Tucker hit a three to make it a one-point game. After a timeout, CSU turned the ball over and it looked like Capital might win at the buzzer. Alas, McKane Finkenbine’s three was off the mark and Harris grabbed the rebound and clinched the game (technically he was fouled and missed a free throw on a 1-and-1 but there was .2 seconds left).
As the crowd let out a sigh of relief, Summers and the rest of the team were able to celebrate his first win as a D-I head coach. It wasn’t pretty but it was a win.
Key Takeaways:
- Hill finished with five points (though he had another shot bank right off the rim), one board, one assist, and two fouls. These aren’t earth shattering numbers but it changed the game. When asked how the Vikings seized momentum, Summers had this to say. “I think putting Manny Hill in the game. Manny Hill, Cleveland Heights kid.” He continued, “He kind of tapered off a little bit as we got it into the season. I said, ‘Manny, I need Cleveland Heights Manny, I need Tri-C Manny.’” In the end, Manny played well and helped the Vikings get their first win.
- Harris continues to impress for the Vikings. He led the game with 14 rebounds. He only added four points but his ability to grab loose balls will be paramount for the Vikings. “He is a dirty, ‘get in the muck,’ blue collar kind of guy,” Summers said. “I told him, you’ve got to lead the league in rebounding.”
- CSU had 19 fastbreak points compared to Capital’s 10 but they also turned the ball over 15 times. The quick pace of their offense is going to take some time to work itself out, but if they can run on teams in conference play, they should be able to bury some teams early. “The good thing about this team is that everybody can score.” Nessah said. “There’s not one guy on the team that can’t score.”
- Chris Mitchell finished with an 11 and 11 double-double for Capital and +6 on the game. At times he was able to get the mismatch against the Viking defense and get right to the basket. Upcoming opponents will be sure to watch his play against CSU to plan.
- Even though the fouls were even at 16 apiece by the end of the game, there were plenty of touch fouls called on the Vikings while a lot of drives for CSU resulted in no whistles. It seems every time a lower division plays a D-I school, the calls seem to favor the lower division, but at the same time the Vikings need to draw fouls better.
Next up for CSU:
The Vikings (1-1) head back to Chicago for a matchup with Northwestern (1-0) on Monday at 8:30 EDT.
