The Cleveland State Men’s Basketball team (1-2 going into the weekend) had a doozy of a weekend. Scoring almost 100 points versus another Northeast Ohio school (but losing) and storming back to beat a school Wright State demolished certainly was an interesting watch. The MTE (Multiple Team Event) at Colonial Hall at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, WV was anything but boring for the Vikings.
Game Against Kent State (2-1) Saturday, November 15th, 2025
The good news about this team and this game is CSU was able to score 95 points. The bad news is (just like the Loyola game) Kent State scored more (102).
Although head coach Rob Summers mentioned before the season that there might be a different starting lineup every game, five Vikings have etched their name into the lineup seemingly every game so far. Tre Beard, Dayan Nessah, Josiah Harris, Foster Wonders, and Jaidon Lipscomb started again for CSU and they did not get off to a great start.
The Golden Flashes got out to an early 7-2 lead and Summers called a quick timeout. Nessah and Beard responded with two baskets each out of the timeout to grab the lead for the Vikings and get the offense rolling.
Nessah would follow this up a few minutes later with a three that brought the CSU lead up to six with just over five minutes gone in the contest. They had outscored Kent 16 to five after that initial deficit.
The offense continued to produce and a split pair of free throws by Chevalier “Ice” Emery at the 12:12 mark grew the advantage to eight points. KSU responded with a four-point play to cut the lead in half before Wonders hit another three for CSU to go back up by seven.
Two more threes paired with a Beard turnover had the Golden Flashes back in the driver’s seat and up by one. KSU attempted to grow their lead but the Vikings matched them shot for shot. Another three (this one by Lipscomb) put the Vikings back in front with under 4:30 left in the half.
Preist Ryan added a layup of his own to bolster the Vikings and he added a pair of free throws a minute later as well. The last two minutes saw only five total points scored (all for the Golden Flashes) and CSU went into halftime down 44-41.
Kent started the second half just like the first and jumped out to a seven point lead within the first minute and a half. The next five minutes was a track meet as both teams scored almost every time down the court.
CSU broke up this back-and-forth with three consecutive buckets to tie the game at 63 with just over half the period left. The Vikings kept it close from there on out but they were never able to retake the lead.
They tied it again at 78 on another three by Beard and then at 80 on free throws by him as well, but that was it. The Golden Flashes scored three straight baskets and never were up by less than three again.
The Vikings attempted to get back in the game by intentionally fouling but it was too late and KSU made their free throws. A desperation three by Kamari Jones put the Vikings without five points but with only six seconds left, two more Kent free throws put the final score at 102-95.
Key Takeaways:
- This game was absolutely lost for the Vikings in the trenches. They were outscored 48 to 20 in the paint and out-rebounded by five. Once Ryan Preist (who finished with eight rebounds) fouled out, the Vikings had even more issues and KSU took advantage.
- CSU turned the ball over 15 times (KSU 11). They are going to play fast (they scored 95!) but they need to take better care of the ball.
- CSU committed 33 fouls (KSU 22). Even taking away the fouls at the end of the game, this is incredibly hard to overcome. Kent took 16 more free throws and made 10 more. Five Vikings had four fouls (and Ryan with five). It’s tough to play defense when you’re trying not to foul out.
- Beard played out of his mind. He made five threes and was a perfect 6-for-6 at the line in 27 minutes. He finished with 27 points, five rebounds, and four assists. He also only had two turnovers. He continues to be a major level-headed presence on the offense.
- CSU’s good three-point shooting kept them in a game where they were being bullied anywhere near the basket. They went 15-for-36 (41.7%). Kent only went 6-for-23 (26.1%) and went 0-for-7 in the second half. Seven Vikings made threes and this will need to continue to be a large part of their offense going forward. Let it fly.
Game Against Radford University (2-2) Sunday, November 16th, 2025
The Vikings started their second game in two days off hot with two of their standouts (Harris and Nessah) leading them to a quick 5-0 run.
Radford went on to score the next ten points and quickly it seemed as though CSU was never going to catch up. They couldn’t convert on offense regularly due to their incredible rate of turnovers and the Highlanders took advantage every step of the way.
By the 8:06 mark in the first half, Radford had built a 15-point lead as they were doubling-up CSU 30-15. The entire first half saw the Vikings not controlling the ball and not shooting particularly well.
The Highlanders weren’t shooting the lights out, but they were doing just enough to keep the Vikings over ten points away. A three by Beard with under two minutes to go in the half looked to spark the team, but Radford responded with a 6-0 run to build their largest lead of the game (17).
A free throw by Beard and a three by Harris cut the deficit to 13 at half, but the Vikings didn’t look poised for a comeback. The Highlanders echoed this sentiment with four straight points to start the second half and built the lead back to 17.
A slew of inconsistent foul shooting for the Vikings did nothing to help them climb back into the game until some free throws by Nessah followed by a layup by Emery closed the gap to under ten.
The Highlanders didn’t relent and immediately got the lead back up to 14 points with just under nine minutes to play. A pivotal three-point play by Nessah followed by two Ryan foul shots cut the lead again.
With 6:07 left, Wonders hit a three and a minute later a layup by Emery followed by a Harris three (off a Highlander turnover) had the Vikings within five points.
Another three by Wonders at the 3:06 mark cut the game to one-point and Harris tied it up at 76 with a three of his own on the subsequent possession.
Beard and Nessah added nice buckets before a three-point play by Ryan put the game on ice as the Vikings led by four with 35 seconds to go. After the fouling cleared at the end, the Vikings had come back from 17 down to win. 87-82 was the final.
Key Takeaways:
- If anyone was still wondering how good this offense can be, this game is a prime example of how quick the Vikings can score. In the final 8:51 they outscored Radford 34-15. In the final 6:20, 27-11. The final 5:14: 23-8.
- The second half saw the Vikings only take eight threes (compared to 18 in the first half), but they made four. They shot 56% overall in the second half. They were efficient and also got to the line (31 times in the second half).
- CSU was still outplayed in the paint. Radford outscored them 36 to 28 inside. This will still be something that needs to get better as the weeks progress as teams continue to feast on the Vikings’ interior defense.
- Harris had another monster game with 16 points and 15 boards. With him and Nessah (20 points) getting more comfortable with each other, they both look as though they are going to take large leaps. The chemistry on some of their passes can’t be taught.
- Only eight guys played meaningful minutes. With back-to-back games, it was interesting to see Manny Hill get some extended time (six points). Going forward, Summers will have plenty of guys to mix-and-match with different teams. It still looks like they need to see who plays well together, but that’s what non-conference schedules are partially about.
Next up for CSU (2-3):
Valparaiso comes back to town on Wednesday at 7 PM at the Wolstein Center before CSU goes to Kent on Saturday at 2 PM to take on the Golden Flashes again.
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