Cleveland State started the week at 7-14 overall and 3-7 in the Horizon League, but an impressive showing in the Cheesehead State now has the Vikings within striking distance of a top-five seed in the conference tournament.
CSU began its trip up north with a rematch against Green Bay (12-10, 7-4 HL) in front of 2,429 fans. Looking to get revenge against the Phoenix, CSU was at full strength with Josiah Harris and Preist Ryan available. Ryan got the starting nod with the regular lineup of Jaidon Lipscomb, Tre Beard, Dayan Nessah and Holden Pierre-Louis.
The Vikings jumped out to a 5-0 lead after Nessah buried a three but GB punched right back with a 9-0 run. Beard was able to stop the bleeding with a three of his own before both offenses went silent for over three minutes.
Lipscomb shattered the silence with his first two threes of the night on back-to-back possessions. Chevalier Emery (a Wisconsin product) also got in on the fun with a jumper and a three.
Former Phoenix Foster Wonders splashed a three to extend the lead to seven and the Vikings were rolling with just under five to play in the half. Emery buried another three followed by a Harris three as part of the 10-0 run that stretched the lead to 16.
Green Bay scored the last four points of the half, but the Vikings were up big 39-27. Both teams came out of the half hitting threes, but the Phoenix began to poke away at the deficit.
With free throws, steals and threes, Green Bay quickly got to within one score with 13:15 to play in the contest. After a timeout, Wonders nailed a three but GB would again fight back with their own three.
Lipscomb delivered the next great shot with a three and it looked as though the Vikings might finally pull away. Alas, four three-pointers and four minutes later had the score closer than most of the day: two points. Harris hit a jumper and finished a three-point play followed by a Lipscomb three and it was essentially over.
Both teams fouled a bunch in the waning minutes — GB to try to win, CSU seemingly by accident — and it never got within a possession again. A GB three with eight seconds left was negated by two Harris free throws to put the game in the win column for CSU, 89-82.
Key Takeaways:
- The Phoenix went 13-for-27 behind the line. That’s very good. The Vikings one-upped them by going 16-for-29. Six Vikes hit threes, including Lipscomb with five.
- CSU was +6 on the glass. Nessah led the way with nine rebounds but Harris’ presence cannot be overstated — he finished with seven).
- The Vikings also put up 21 points at the line as both teams shot free throws very well. Three-point shooting combined with good foul shooting is a recipe for success.
- The CSU defense, specifically the zone, was much better against GB this time around. They didn’t allow a lot of cuts into the paint and didn’t allow many open looks from deep. It was a big turnaround from the last meeting.
- The Vikings had 20 assists on 26 baskets. They are sharing the rock and getting open looks constantly by playing low-high and making smart passes.
Moving a bit south, the Vikings were ready to take on Milwaukee (9-14, 5-7 HL) to attempt a sweep of the state.
The same five started for the Vikings with Pierre-Louis getting the nod over Harris and they got out to a 3-0 lead.
After only a few minutes, Wonders entered for Ryan, who only played five minutes in the game. The Panthers got on the board with two free throws to cut it to 3-2, but Wonders kept his hot shooting going with a three. Lipscomb also got three points but these were at the line after he was fouled.
Amar Augillard finally scored Milwaukee’s first field goal to cut the lead back to three before Pierre-Louis got all alone at the basket for a slam off a Beard pass. It was early, but the Vikings were ahead 11-6 at the first media timeout.
Nessah continued to surge in conference play with a great traditional three-point play at the basket and another nice shot off the glass. The Vikings doubled Milwaukee up 16-8 but Aguillard stopped the run with a three.
The real main plot point of the first ten minutes was challenges. Milwaukee and CSU both used challenges early. Milwaukee lost theirs and CSU won two on consecutive trips up the floor. Before even a fourth of the game had gone by, each team was out of challenges.
As would continue to happen all day, a three-point play by Milwaukee cut it to a two-point game and a great look for a lay-in tied it at 16. The Vikings quickly responded with a Lipscomb three and a great shot from Emery after losing the ball.
Josh Dixon, who torched the Vikings in Cleveland a few weeks ago, hit a three to cut it back to two points, but an insane pass by Pierre-Louis to a cutting Emery put the Vikings on top 23-19 at the under-eight minute timeout.
ANOTHER three-point play for Milwaukee cut the deficit to one but ANOTHER Pierre-Louis to Emery assist stopped the Panthers in their tracks. Wonders added a three to go back up by six, but the Vikings couldn’t pull away.
Pierre-Louis fouled Dixon on a made three to cut it back to two points, but Nessah was the next Viking to stretch the score with two free throws and a great putback.
Beard and Lipscomb got in on the action with threes surrounding a Milwaukee three as neither team was showing any signs of giving up. Beard hit a subsequent three with about ten seconds left in the half and CSU clung to a 44-39 lead at halftime.
The Panthers came out roaring with a 4-0 run to cut the game to one point before the Vikings could take a breath. Lipscomb wanted to make sure the game didn’t get too close and hit back-to-back threes to go up by seven.
Emery’s three-point play extended the lead to eight but again, Milwaukee’s three cut it to five. A technical foul on Dixon gave Lipscomb two free throws, and made one before he hit his fifth three of the game.
Nessah mesmerized the crowd with a beautiful spin and lay-in off the glass to go up nine and Emery nailed a three after an offensive board, and suddenly the lead was up to 12. Milwaukee would respond for the hundredth time with a 6-0 run but a mental mistake by the Panthers gave Harris three free throws with one second left on the shot clock.
Milwaukee wasn’t done, and a three to go along with free throws cut into the deficit. Minutes later, it was 70-69 and the crowd was on their feet. Both teams traded threes and free throws, highlighted by an Emery three bouncing on the rim multiple times before falling through.
The Vikings were still up six with about two minutes to go and Milwaukee couldn’t make a free throw, but that didn’t matter as the Panthers got an offensive board and hit a three to make it a one possession game again.
After Nessah made two free throws, at the 10.2 seconds mark, Harris was given a flagrant one foul for elbowing a Panther. Milwaukee made both free throws and then hit a crazy three — courtesy of Dixon — to tie the game with basically no time left.
Somehow, the Vikings got the ball in quickly and Lipscomb was fouled from behind. It looked as though the Phoenix either thought they were still losing or just got too aggressive. He sank both foul shots and the Vikings didn’t allow the Panthers to get the ball for the last 1.3 seconds. It was wild, but the Vikings escaped 90-88.
Key Takeaways:
- The Vikings didn’t shoot that great from deep (14-for-36), but the high volume and shooting 50% from the field overall allowed them to still score 90. Nessah and Emery were able to get to the basket anytime they wanted.
- Nessah had a double-double (19 and 13) plus six assists. He continues to improve and grow into his own. He looks like a real number one option any time down the court.
- Lipscomb went 5-for-9 from three. Any possession when the Vikings needed to respond, he came through. Having numerous three-point threats knocking them down at the same time is making the Vikings offense impossible to defend. Add in the inside threat of Nessah, and it’s all opening up.
- The flagrant on Harris was certainly an interesting call. The replay wasn’t completely definitive on if his elbow connected with the Panther and a flagrant one was maybe a bit much. Added together with the teams using three total challenges in such a short period, the referees were definitely…something.
- The Vikings responded every time they needed to and they now are on a four-game winning streak. With Harris back and the defense coming together, they’re a different team than a month ago.
The Vikings (9-14, 5-7 HL) will face second-place Oakland (14-10, 10-3) at the Wolstein Center before heading to IU Indy (6-18, 2-11 HL) on Saturday. They have a chance to pull into a top-five spot in the conference with a pair of wins.
In Other News:
Former Viking Tristan Enaruna signed a two-way contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He made his first NBA appearance on Sunday and collected two points, two boards and an assist.
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