Vikings Neutralize NAIA Nonentity Before Blazers Burst Bubble

Cleveland State (3-8, 0-2 in the Horizon League coming into the week) had yet another few days where they pummeled a non-D-I team and then got pummeled themselves by a D-I team. Between their performances against Oakland City University (OCU) and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), there’s a lot to digest but what exactly can be learned?

Home Game Against NAIA Oakland City University on Sunday, December 14th

With no Josiah Harris, the much taller Vikings still took care of business against the OCU Mighty Oaks in Woodling Gym. Jaidon Lipscomb, Dayan Nessah, Preist Ryan, Tre Beard, and Holden Pierre-Louis started fast for CSU. 

Beard hit a three before two Lipscomb threes had the Vikings up 9-0 early as Ryan slammed home a two before the Mighty Oaks even got a point.

With 12:15 left in the half, OCU closed the gap to five but that was the closest they would ever come again. Methodically throughout the next ten minutes, Foster Wonders, Chevalier Emery, and Lipscomb all hit threes to grow the lead up to 24 points. 

The Mighty Oaks did everything they could to get the deficit under 20 but they couldn’t and Nessah even added a classic three-point play right before halftime to have the lead at 23 points.

Beard started the second half with a three as well and minus a three by OCU, it was all Vikings for the first few minutes. They pushed the lead above 30 on a Nessah bucket as everyone continued to contribute on both ends. 

Another Wonders three with under ten minutes to go had the lead at 38 directly before Emery hit two free throws to get it above 40.

CSU never slowed down even as they saw the lead “slip” to 36. They scored the last eight points to win by 44 (96-52) narrowly missing out on the century mark.

Key Takeaways:

1. Something the Vikings haven’t been able to do against anyone in D-I is have more points in the paint. Against a smaller team, CSU had 46 points in the paint to OCU’s 16. After the game head coach Rob Summers pointed to this improvement and how it also helps the outside shooting. “We have weak side cutting and it’s ingrained in our system, and I think when we do that, we get open shots.” He continued, “As soon as they cut, that low hole guy’s gonna pull over, and then Foster [Wonders], Jaidon [Lipscomb] are there.”
2. Five Vikings scored in double figures and five hit three-pointers. Five also had five or more boards. With Lipscomb (who also had six assists) and Wonders starting to shoot better, the Vikings are suddenly seeing a lot of options on offense. “I think Foster hasn’t even scratched the surface of what he’s going to do,” noted Summers. “I’m really excited for when that levy, that dam, just breaks.”
3. The Vikings had 41 points off the bench highlighted by 16 from Emery. It’s obvious that the Vikings are not going to stop very many teams on defense. They need this balanced and constant attack if they are going to keep up with others.
4. The Vikings only had 12 turnovers (OCU only has ten) which is less than normal for them but this highlights an issue in general. “We really focused on the turnovers and you see 27 assists and 12 turnovers,” Summers mentioned. “Guys are proud about that because they had a couple sprints coming up if they didn’t.”
5. As Summers said, the Vikings had 27 assists. They passed and shared the ball well all afternoon. No one is going to score 40 and single-handedly win the game for them. This harmony is the path to victory.

Away Game at UAB (7-4) on Wednesday, December 17th

Nessah came out swinging against UAB. Two baskets in the first minute of the game immediately had the Vikings up 4-0 before the turnover party began. 

Back-to-back possessions by the Vikes led to turnovers (and five points for the Blazers) and the Vikings’ small lead was already gone.

The Vikings knew to stay in the game they needed to put up a lot of threes so within the next minute they threw up four (making one by Ryan).

Six straight missed shots from the field plus a few turnovers had the Vikings once again searching for offense. They were able to keep pace with UAB as they connected on their foul shots but it wasn’t looking great.

Back-to-back threes by Emery briefly retook the lead for the Vikings 21-19 but turnovers and a missed defensive rebound saw the Blazers ahead by four with under eight minutes to go in the half.

Emery added a layup and another three to again take back the lead (this time by five) but the Blazers continued to go on mini-runs. They scored the next seven points and were again ahead.

Nessah tied it with a fast break layup and Emery hit yet another three to go up by one a minute later but UAB scored the last six points of the half as the Vikings missed three shots and turned the ball over again. 

The Vikings had played the Blazers close but they were down 42-37 at half. The second half would be another story entirely. 

For the first five minutes of the second half, it seemed CSU might hang tough with UAB. Beard and Lipscomb both hit threes to keep the deficit at five and then the bottom fell out. 

Another mini-run by the Blazers (7-0 this time) suddenly had the deficit above ten and no amount of threes (including another by Lipscomb and one by Wonders) was able to keep the Vikings in the game. 

A turnover and foul (and a missed defensive rebound on a missed UAB free throw) and the Vikings were down 17. Emery hit a three to stop the bleeding and Nessah added a pair of free throws to make it 78-64. 

The Blazers scored the next 13 points and it was over. A myriad of turnovers, missed layups, missed jump shots, and fouls dug the Vikings a hole that was impossible to escape. 

Beard hit a three with 5:10 to go but it was much too little, much too late. The 24-point difference would hold as the Blazers won 101-77.

Key Takeaways:

1. The good first: Emery was phenomenal. He finished with 25 points off the bench and was 5-for-7 from deep and 6-for-7 at the line. He continues to give the Vikings energy and points off the bench.
2. The also good: the Vikings shot 93.3% from the line and 46.4% from three. They’re a good shooting team. Going into the game, they were 60th in the nation for three-point percentage (45th in attempts). When they get shots off, they’re very effective.
3. The bad: when they don’t get shots off…turnovers continue to be an issue for the Vikings. They finished with 14 (the Blazers only had seven) and coming into the game they were 343rd in the country. They’re playing fast but they’re not making the right decisions a lot of the time.
4. The also bad: without Harris again, the Vikings were out-rebounded 40-28. They just don’t have enough guys that can consistently get boards against D-I opponents. They scored zero second chance points (the Blazers scored 14). That’s not sustainable even if Harris is playing.
5. The ugly: UAB scored 54 points in the paint. CSU scored only 24. Another game, the same problems. Coming into the game they were the 243rd team in two-point field goal percentage (51.3%) compared to their opponents at 54.7%. They either need to protect the interior better, shoot better inside, or just start getting a higher volume of shots up (be that by not turning the ball over or getting rebounds). Summers alluded to this after the OCU game. “We sat down with an analytics company this past week and they said when we get a shot on the rim, we’re really good. And when we don’t, we’re really bad.” He added, “Whether that’s getting a shot blocked or turning the basketball over, they were like, you’re doing that at like a 39% rate.”

Next up for CSU (4-9, 0-2 HL):

Milwaukee comes to the Wolstein Center on Sunday at 5 PM for the Vikings’ third conference game.