While we were all basking in the glory of an Ohio State NCAA Tournament blowout weekend at the Q, the Cleveland State Vikings were taking the floor a short distance away at the Wolstein Center for the second round of the NIT. The opponent was the College of Charleston, coached by former Georgia Tech legend Bobby Cremins. Two more wins would put CSU into the semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York and a huge opportunity for the Viking program.

All year long, CSU has done it with their pressure defense. They play this way because their best quality is their quickness. What they didn’t have was size and depth. If I’d have told Head Coach Gary Waters that his team would have won the battle of the boards 37-25 and his bench would outscore its opponents 8-3, he’d have said “where do I sign up.” Even Center Aaron Pogue, the king of all foul trouble, only committed two and scored 13 points while snagging 14 boards.

So how exactly did Cleveland State’s season end with a 64-56 home loss? The answer is simple and shocking. The Vikings shot 1-25 from three point land.

No, that’s not a misprint. I’ll say it again. The Vikings shot 1-25 from three point land. Its the single worst three point performance in CSU history. “I never had a team shoot 1-for-25,” said Waters. “Never.”

Cremins was equally as stunned by the Vikings three point futility. “I would like to say it was our defense, but I couldn’t say that truthfully,” Cremins said. “They couldn’t make shots.”

It was a sad end of the season for Cleveland State and a tough way for all-everything PG Norris Cole to end his brilliant career. He finished with 18 points and seven assists, but he shot just 6-22 from the floor, missing all eight of his triple attempts. Cole deserved better than to finish out his career with a loss and one of his worst shooting performances in ages.

Cole leaves Cleveland State as the school third all-time leading scorer. His jersey should be retired next to Ken “Mouse” McFadden and Franklin Edwards. As great as the previously mentioned two players were, nobody gave more on the floor to the CSU program than Norris. Waters knew that he’d have to ride his horse all season for them to succeed and Cole responded. He averaged over 35 minutes a night and at 6-2, led the team in points, assists, rebounds, and steals. Pretty amazing stuff.

Will we see him at the next level? His coach certainly thinks so.

“He’s one of the best players I’ve ever recruited in regards to the total package. Not just the basketball player he is, but also his leadership,” Waters said. The scouts love his toughness and the fact that he can do it all. This season Cole truly grew into the Point Guard role, and that has only enhanced his NBA stock. Draft Express lists him as their 66th best prospect, while NBADraft.net has him as the second pick (#32) in the second round in their 2011 Mock Draft.

There is plenty of junk in the NBA and there is no doubt in my mind that Cole can play right away in the league. Its just such a shame his career and CSU’s season ended the way it did. Waters reflected afterwards.

“This has been a great year, and regardless what occurred out there today,” said Waters. “You win 27 games, you don’t have a bench, and you have to rely on your 3-point shooters. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that was a good job. And not by me, by the team. This group was a pretty special group.”

Next year the Vikings bring back four starters – Guards Jeremy Montgomery and Tre Harmon, Pogue, and forward Tim Kamczyc – as well as redshirt D’Aundrey Brown, a two-year starter who missed the season with a finger injury. Brown was the team’s best defender and will be entering his fifth year in the program. Charlie Woods and Josh McCoy, the Vikings top two reserves also return, plus a class of five coming in that includes four star Combo Forward Anton Grady from Cleveland Central Catholic.

As long as Waters as the captain of the Vikings ship, the program will be near the top of the Horizon League.

“Nobody cares about your bracket!” That has commonly been bandied about on Twitter, but it just isn’t true right here right now on this post.  This is where we absolutely care about your bracket.  We care so much that we have assigned not one, but two prizes for winners.  We still haven’t figured out something to give to the last place finisher (who also completely filled out the brackets) but we probably will.

I am happy to say that the bonus point structure is also causing a bit of chaos. The leader right now has gotten 34 of 48 picks correct, while second place has gotten 36 correct.  One of the two tied for third has 38 correct.  Picking those underdogs correctly pays!  Even I finally pulled myself out of the basement with a VCU win last night.  Make no mistake, I still have no chance at winning, but it still feels good to be in the 200s rather than the 300s.

Well, I am sure a lot of WFNYers are significantly less interested in the tourney now that the Buckeyes have been Calipari’d out of the game.  Still, the contest goes on for the Tribe tickets and Carlos Santana jersey.  As we await opening day on Friday, that should be enough to keep your eyes glued to the competition.

Your current leader, Dingo Jones has Notre Dame winning it all. Merrick Potter has Kentucky winning it all and the rest have Ohio State, Kansas, Duke or Notre Dame. I am sure I could figure out who will win it all based on scenarios, but that would require work and math. And really, who wants to bother with that on a Monday Morning?

Good luck to all the people who still have a shot.

Charlie Sheen is in town tonight and some people are pretending like this whole deal wasn’t played out two days after it started. Similarly, that championship game was played out about two minutes in. When a buzzer-beating three pointer to end the first half represents 15% of your previous point total, you know the game is an absolute abhorrent snoozer.  But, as bad as the game was, it served its true purposes. It has allowed WFNY to give out a couple of prizes to the best pickers/guessers in our Yahoo! bracket competition.  Here is your final top ten.

So there you have it.  Dingo Jones is the victor with Jimmer Me Timbers just barely edging out Lets Go Bucks! and Jalapeno Poppers by a single point.  The prizes are either the Carlos Santana jersey or Tribe tickets.  Dingo Jones will have to contact us and tell us which he wants.  (I’m assuming Dingo Jones is a he for some reason.)  Whatever is left will go to Jimmer Me Timbers.

As Scott pointed out on Twitter this morning, nobody goes home a loser.  The rest of you win free entry into the competition next year.  (Don’t spend it all in one place.)

Thanks to everyone for playing.  It was a lot of fun and made the tourney interesting even after all the teams I found interesting were knocked out.

The last Cleveland State Viking to be drafted into the NBA was Clinton Smith in 1986.  He was selected by the Golden State Warriors, but not until the 4th pick of the 5th round.  

Twenty-five years later Norris Cole looks to be the next, but he only has two rounds to work with.   

Before Smith, Cleveland State products Darren Tillis and Franklin Edwards were each taken by the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers as 1st round picks in the 1981 and 1982 Drafts respectively.  If Cole sneaks into the first round on June 23rd, that would make twenty-nine years in between 1st round picks for the Vikes.   

Paul Roba was also taken in that 1981 Draft, but not until the 9th round.  Three other CSU hoopers were drafted into the NBA before 1981, and all three were taken after round number two.  So what Norris Cole is about to do doesn’t happen too often.  

Where Cole ends up being selected is anyone’s guess at this point, but he’s most definitely in the mix.  The consensus appears that he’ll hear his name called somewhere early in round number two, however late in the first round is not totally out of the question.

Last week, The Hoop Doctors projected Cole going to San Antonio with the 29th overall pick; saying this about the 6’2″ 175 Senior from CSU:

“Norris is the perfect example of a player making the right decision to stay in school. By returning for his senior season, he has steadily increased his all-around numbers to being the lone Division I player to average 20+ points, 5+ rebounds, and 5+ assists.

He burst upon the national scene with his 41 point, 20 rebound, 9 assist effort against an opponent in February but his biggest improvement has been his true PG skills, where he was a finalist or the Bob Cousy Award given to the nation’s best PG. He’s a solid PG prospect with above average offensive abilities and is at his best in pick and roll situations.

Some concerns include lack of high level competition, having only average athleticism, and must improve range on his jumper as he doesn’t connect on a ton of shots from three. Norris is a 4 star PG prospect, better served as a scorer than facilitator on a team with an already in place superstar.”

What I think helps Norris most is the fact that he has demonstrated the ability to improve over the course of his career.  NBA people respect Gary Waters, and Norris Cole not only let Waters coach him, but continued to develop year-after-year over the course of his career. 

He transformed himself from a high school prospect who should be playing at Cleveland State, to a draft prospect that should be playing in the NBA over that four year period.  How good can he become in four more years?

Has he peaked, or is he just scratching the surface to an extent is the question that NBA scouts are weighing at the moment.  My personal opinion is that he will continue to respond to coaching, and continue to develop on the next level.  As a professional, playing basketball as his job everyday, I’d bet my house that Cole is in the gym launching up however many jumpers it takes to improve on those perceived weakness from the outside. 

If an NBA team agrees with me on that, he could go in Round One.  Most mock drafts have him going in Round Two at the moment though.

In their mock draft last updated Thursday night, Draft Express has Cole going 37th overall to the Clippers.  As of yesterday, Hoopsworld has Cole at 42 overall to the Pacers; a bit low I think, but we’ll see.  NBA Draft Insider had him at 33rd to the Pistons this week, and NBA Draft.net has him going 35th to the Kings.  An average of these five mock drafts has Norris Cole right around the 35-36 range, for whatever that’s worth.

If this were any other year Norris Cole might be a sure-fire first round pick.  This time around though, the talent-pool just happens to be loaded with quality PG’s.  Besides the Kyrie Iriving’s, Kemba Walker’s, Brandon Knight’s and Jimmer Fredette’s, there’s also a strong group in the back-end of the late 1st / early 2nd with whom Cole’s battling.

Charles Jenkins out of Hofstra is making a late surge, Duke’s Nolan Smith has been around there for some time, and guys like Darius Morris from Michigan and Reggie Jackson from BC are all right there with Cole trying to slide into that first round as well. 

I’d take Norris over all of those guys though.  He’s a solid person, will be a solid pro, and it’s good to see a guy like that representing Cleveland on the next level.  I’ll be a Norris Cole fan wherever he ends up, just hope that’s not in Florida somewhere.

At 2pm yesterday I shifted my attention away from the Cleveland Browns and over to the Cleveland State Vikings on ESPNU.  Two hours later, I couldn’t have been more pleased with my decision.  All Gary Waters’ team did yesterday was completely dominate the nation’s 7th ranked Vanderbilt Commodores in a wire-to-wire beat-down that was never in question, and I thoroughly enjoyed my afternoon as a result.

CSU led Vandy by as many as 16 in the first half, and with under one minute to go in the game they found themselves up 15 before making it a final at 71-58.  The Nashville crowd was shocked into silence for most of the afternoon, and left the arena stunned, but you should be neither shocked nor surprised by this result.  The Cleveland State Vikings are absolutely for real this season. They will be ranked in top-25 shortly, and stay there for most of the year.

I didn’t just throw out that top-25 thing there because CSU beat the highest ranked opponent ever in school history yesterday, or because Sunday’s win marked the fifth time a Gary Waters coached team has beaten a ranked opponent since he came on the scene in 2006 either.  I threw it out there because I’m completely serious, and because this team is really that good.

They didn’t even play close to a perfect game on Sunday and beat the 7th ranked team in the country.  They didn’t have one guy just come in for the Vikes and go off for an unstoppable performance of 40 or 50 points which could probably not be duplicated either.  They simply beat a top-1o SEC team on the road as soundly as you can beat somebody, and they looked like they expected to do just that when they stepped on the floor.  Six Vikings scored 7 or more points, 9 guys played 14 or more minutes, and CSU was just tougher and looked better than Vanderbilt all day long.

I know it seems crazy that CSU even had a 1st round draft pick, and the idea that they could lose a 1st round draft pick and then be better the next season almost seems incomprehensible, but I’m telling you that they are better than the 27-9 team last season who tied for a share of the Horizon League title.  They still return five starters anyways, even without Norris Cole. D’Aundray Brown, who played huge minutes as a sophomore on the team that beat Johnny Flynn’s Syracuse squad during the regular season, Butler in the conference title game, and Wake Forest in the NCAA tournament two seasons ago, is back and healthy.  He missed all of last season, was inevitably red-shirted, and now joins last year’s starters Tre Harmon, Jeremy Montgomery, Aaron Pogue and Tim Kamczyc in starting group that is both experienced and talented.

Brown is in my opinion the most under-rated Division I player in all of the Midwest, and he led CSU in the scoring yesterday with 18.  The do everything guard who can defend four positions on the floor only needed 10 shots (6 of 10) to get there too, and added 8 rebounds and 7 steals as well.  Harmon finished with 11, Montgomery finished with 10, Pogue added 8, and two other players scored 7.  Ten guys played in total for Gary Waters yesterday too, something that never happened last season.

“We’re not used to getting that kind of bench production, but these young guys can play,” Waters said. “They were able to provide us with not only scoring, but they rebounded, played defense and I didn’t think we lost anything in our level of play with them on the floor.”

One of those guys who can really play coming off this bench is the 6’8″ Freshman from Cleveland Central Catholic, Anton Grady.  Grady played 22 minutes yesterday, blocked 4 shots, grabbed 4 rebounds, and also added 2 assists and a steal in some very active and meaningful minutes.  He is a kid who was recruited by everybody from Tom Izzo on down at one point in his High School career, and he is a high major talent who brings a ton of athleticism and upside to this team in his first season.

The Vikings need that depth too, especially with the style of in-your-face-defense that Coach Waters employs all game long.  A style of play that forced Coach Kevin Stallings’ group to turn it over 20 times, while only converting on 6 assists as a team for the game.

“We continually tried to cross the ball over in front of them, and they just continually kept taking it,” Stallings said. “I wish they would have sent us a Federal Express package that said, ‘We are going to take your ball if you cross it over in front of us because we’re good.’ Apparently we didn’t get the memo because we kept doing it. I really liked how they played.”

There’s no way anybody could’ve have watched yesterday and not liked how CSU played.   They are good, and they will keep doing it all season long.  It should be fun Cleveland, be sure to tune in.

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Photo: DesertNews.com

The SEC or Big East didn’t need to send teams like Vanderbilt or West Virginia to Northeast Ohio last night in order to create that big-time basketball atmosphere.

The Cleveland State Vikings and Kent State Golden Flashes took care of that by themselves.  Besides, they beat those two teams already anyways.

As a result of those early signature wins, Cleveland State came in ranked 26th in the AP Poll while the votes Kent State received had them slotted at 37th.  Both collectively recognized as two of the nation’s top-40 college basketball teams, both hailing from Northeast Ohio.

6,327 basketball fans filed in as a result last night.  The largest crowd for a non-conference game at Kent State in forty years.

The players may have been a little too hyped up about all that though, on both sides.  There was certainly a collection of spectacular plays scattered throughout the game, but it did lack some flow offensively.  Trevon Harmon, after hitting the game winner against St. Bonaventure, went 0-9 from the field.  Kent State Guard Mike Porrini had only 2 points in 36 minutes.  There were a total of 42 turnovers in the game, and 38 fouls.  Some of that had to do with defense, the rest of it with simply wanting to do well so badly.

I couldn’t have appreciated the effort from both sides more though, even if both coaches have them running windsprints all the way through Thanksgiving.  They gym was electric at the opening tip, and those players in that game created that environment.  Cleveland State did more to take advantage of it though, and came out on fire.  Jeremy Montgomery hit two three’s early to give CSU a 12-2 lead they’d never look back from.  He finished with a team high 13.

In an effort to possibly find out who he feels he can trust the most on a bench that literally appears to be at least 10 guys deep for CSU, Gary Waters substituted a whole new five in together at around the 14 minute mark.  That second group, led by Charles Lee (7 pts 3 ast), Anton Grady (4 pts, 6 reb), and Sebastian Douglas (4 pts, 3 reb), helped maintain the Vikings lead until Waters subbed all five of his starters back in together about 7 minutes later.  At the break Cleveland State led 30-21.

Both teams came out with an increased intensity in the second half, and Kent State fought all the way to the end despite the loss.  The game wasn’t really as close as the final four point margin would indicate, but that should take nothing away from the team that KSU has this season.  Justin Greene had 13 for Kent, and Chris Evans came off the bench to score 14. Even though they didn’t have their best games, guys like Carlton Guyton (8 pts), Randall Holt (7 pts), and Porrini can all play too.

Cleveland State is just a real good team this year.  Even on an off-night, they can beat an AP Top-40 team on the road.  That should be more the takeaway here, for both sides.  Sure the game was sloppy at times, and for some reason no television stations felt it worthy to broadcast, but both of these teams are good.  Both teams are NCAA Tournament teams.  Cleveland State is just better.

The AP voters will reward CSU for beating the quality opponent that Kent State is at their place last night too. I expect them to be ranked in the Top-25 for sure next week.  If CSU was as high as No. 22 I wouldn’t be surprised.  Kent State shouldn’t fall too far off the radar either with the loss.  The bigger test will be to see what these two teams will do from here.

How good the young players that Gary Waters has infused this group led by D’Aundray Brown (11 pts, 3 reb, 1 ridiculous blocked shot) with can’t be understated either.  The numbers may not necessarily jump off the page at you, but Charles Lee is a very solid PG who knows how to play the position.  Anton Grady will develop into a star one day too under Waters’ tutelage.  It should be a fun ride this season with this CSU group as a result.

Next up for Cleveland State (4-0) is The Ticket City Legends Classic at Kingston Rhode Island where they open with Boston University on Friday.  Kent State (2-1) plays host to Louisiana Lafayette next Monday.

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Photo: Jeremy Montgomery

It’s Tuesday…. The Browns are bad and not interesting….The Cavs season still hasn’t started and we still don’t know when free agency and training camp will begin…. The Indians offseason is in full swing, but no games are being played….Sure, their is plenty of things Buckeye to chat about, but this is a slow time right now….so here are 10 quick thoughts on a Tuesday afternoon to chew on.

1. I’m no Ohio State fan, but if you are, you have to look back on the 2011 season and realize this was a GREAT thing for your program. Sure, you were dragged through the mud, you lost your legendary coach, and you finished the regular season with a 6-6 record, but it all happened for a reason and you will come out ahead and better for it. 

Think about what would have happened if Luke Fickell’s bunch had gone say, 10-2 and won the Big Ten. There may have been a string groundswell to keep him on as the Head Coach. Their last unheralded guy turned out pretty well. As I told so many of my Buckeye loving friends – the 6-6 record was the best thing that could have happened to your team because there was no way Fickell would stay at the top.

Instead, you ended up with the Grand Slam of Home Run hires, Urban Meyer, the Ohio native, with two National Championships under his belt.

2. Lost in all of the Meyer hoopla is the fact that the OSU Men’s Basketball team plays in a monster game tonight in Columbus. The #2 Buckeyes take on the #3 Duke Blue Devils at 9:30 on ESPN. It is one of three marquee early games that Thad Matta has scheduled. On November 15th, they took down fellow top 10 team Florida 81-74 and coming up December 10th, OSU goes to Lawrence for another power matchup with Kansas.

But tonight’s game is must see TV if you are a basketball fan. It will be interesting to see how Aaron Craft and company defend Duke perimeter shooters Andre Dawkins, Seth Curry, and Tyler Thornton. They hit 11 threes in their win over Kansas in the title game of the Maui Invitational last Wednesday. Watch out for Duke Freshman Austin Rivers – he can get to the basket essentially whenever he wants off the dribble. Expect to see the longer William Buford man up on Rivers.

3. The Free Agency period in the NBA will be fast and furious whenever the O.K. is given to start. As many of you know, I am officially NBA free. However, I have one piece of advice for Cavs GM Chris Grant – stand pat and do nothing. If there was ever a time to tank a season, it’s now. If the NBA draft age stays at 19 years old, the 2012 draft will be as deep as it’s been in a decade. Guys like UNC’s Harrison Barnes, Kentucky’s talented trio of Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and Terrance Jones, Baylor’s Perry Jones, Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger, and UConn’s Andre Drummond and Jeremy Lamb are all expected to make themselves eligible.

If the draft age moves to 20, as some have speculated, ending up in the top three is even more important than ever.

4. One more sliver for you, Chris Grant. No need to be a hero here. You have the amnesty clause available – use it to rid yourself of the Baron Davis contract. Its got two years left and while he said and did all the right things here in his brief time last season, is that really going to continue? His history would suggest otherwise. Cut him loose and let him walk to the Lakers, where he can be happy back at home in LA.

5. Let up on Greg Little, people. He had one bad game where he had the dropsies. I think he is a keeper and he has impressed me being thrust into the number one receiver role. He will be fine. Meanwhile, does anyone think that GM Tom Heckert will go another offseason without bringing in a legit, veteran wideout?

6. December 5th-8th are Baseball’s Winter Meetings where the General Managers, owners, team presidents, and player agents get together and talk shop. Lots of deals, both trades and free agency, are launched during this time period. Tribe GM Chris Antonetti must come out of the meetings with some sense of what he is going to do in his vast search for a right-handed bat.

A guy that is rumored to be out their and available for trade is the White Sox OF Carlos Quentin. He has never played first base and is probably best suited as a DH. But with the always iffy status of Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner, the at-bats will probably be there. That said, I can’t see White Sox GM Kenny Williams dealing Quentin in the division.

7. Speaking of Sizemore, I was out last week when the Indians made their move to re-sign the oft-injured CF to a one year, $5 million contract plus incentives. I want to go on record – I think bringing back Grady is a mistake.

Sure, he will be very motivated to play for another contract elsewhere, but I think their were more creative ways to spend that $5 million dollars. I’d have made a trade for a right-handed outfielder and let Carlos Santana play more first base with Lou Marson getting most of the run behind the plate.

Mostly, I am against the move because I think Grady is finished as a player. The multiple surgeries have robbed him of what made him great – his speed and reckless abandon style of play. He strikes out way too much for my liking and is another left-handed bat.

I was ready to move on. Apparantly the Indians were not.

8. The move to get that right-handed bat is to deal one of the two established left-handed relievers – Tony Sipp or Rafael Perez – in a package with a prospect or two. Hard-throwing Nick Hagadone is ready to take a major league spot. Hagadone is the second fruit to bare from the Victor Martinez trade. The first one. Justin Masterson, has turned out pretty good I’d say.

9. Anyone else annoyed that the Browns/Ravens game this Sunday has been moved to 4:05 PM from 1 PM? Will be dark, damp, and cold AND we get to watch that Ravens D completely shut the Browns offense down.

10. The 6-1 Cleveland State Vikings were on the cusp of the top 25, before their unexpected loss to Hofstra 63-53 in Kingston, Rhode Island over the weekend. They recovered a day later, beating Rhode Island 67-45 on the road. Center Aaron Pogue led the way with 20 points and eight boards. Now comes Horizon League play, starting Thursday night at 2-4 Wright State. Saturday they take on the preseason choice to win the league, 3-4 Detroit on the road as well.

UDM’s already thin front court took a big hit last week when the lost starting PF Nick Minnerath to a torn ACL. All-league Center Eli Holman is still suspended indefinitely. With Butler in a down year and UDM battling to stay healthy, all of a sudden, Cleveland State looks like the odds on favorite to win the Horizon League.

Ohio State played the University of Texas Pan-American today.  The Broncs, as opposed to the Broncos, are not a good basketball team.

After beating Victory University in late November by 19 points, the school first founded in 1927 as Edinburgh College has now fallen all the way to 2-7 on this 2011-12 season.  But enough about the tenth largest university in Texas who came up short against the Sullinger-less Ohio State Buckeyes 64-35 earlier today in the Columbus.

What’s important is that OSU moves to 8-0 with the win today, and now readies the ship for a collision with TD’s Kansas Jayhawks.

Evan Ravenal got his first start of his career today, and finished with 11 points and 7 rebounds in 20 minutes of work.   Deshaun Thomas also scored eleven, and that many guys got into the game for Thad Matta’s group on the day.

Sullinger is expected back for the trip down to Kansas on December 10th, and as of today the Jayhawks are ranked 14th in the nation.

–

Cleveland State 66, Detroit 61:

The Cleveland State Vikings took to the Dick Vitale Court to play the University of Detroit Titans earlier today in what was their second Horizon League game of the season.

On Thursday the Vikings beat Wright State on a D’Aundray Brown tip-in with 0.3 seconds left to win that game 45-43.

Today Gary Waters’ club was in command for most of the afternoon though, and it wasn’t as dramatic.  They lead by as many as 14 points with under 5 minutes to go, but a late Detroit rally did cut the CSU to lead to as few as 3 with around 2:30 to play.

Jeremy Montgomery (12 points)  hit a big three down the stretch, Anton Grady (11 points) hit some key free throws, and the Vikings escaped with a 5 point win to move to 8-1 (2-0) on the season.  Next up for CSU, who tallied enough votes to be recognized as 35th in the AP Poll heading into this week, is Robert Morris as they look to complete their 7-game road trip before coming home to play Akron on December 10th.

It wasn’t pretty, but the Cleveland State Vikings continued their winning ways over the weekend. With the start of their usual Thursday/Saturday schedule, Gary Waters’s crew took on two undervalued competitors and came away with two hard fought wins, to improve themselves to 10-1, a third of the way through their season. Their lone blemish remains the head-scratching loss to a very average Hofstra club on a neutral floor in Rhode Island.

Thursday night’s road battle with Robert Morris was a close call, with the Vikings nursing a three point halftime lead on a buzzer-beating 30-footer from Senior SG Tre Harmon. The stretched their lead to a game-high 16 points just under 10 minutes left on a Jeremy Montgomery triple. But then the wheels almost fell completely off the wagon. The streaky shooting Vikes went cold and Robert Morris, picked to finish near the top of the NEC, came storming back. With less than a minute to go, the Colonials used a 19-4 run to cut the lead to just one. But CSU bared down and hit the free throws that counted.

Another Senior, Tim Kamczyz, hit five of his six free throws to ice another road win, 72-68, for Waters. The big lead vanished for two reasons, according to Waters – too many deep shots and too many turnovers (19). Of the 40 CSU field goal attempts – 19 of them were from the land of three. They hit seven of them, with Harmon leading the way with four. He also led the team with 24 points; only Montgomery joined him in double figures with 10. They always tough defense forced 21 Robert Morris turnovers.

“Frustrating game,” Waters said. “The reason why I was frustrated was turnovers. Every coach has his pet peeves. Mine is turnovers.”

The win brought them back home two days later for a quick turnaround afternoon tilt with fellow Northeast Ohio mid-major Akron. With CSU’s previous win over Kent, they were hoping for the area sweep. Just as they did Thursday night in Pittsburgh, they led and had control most of the game before going cold down the stretch. A second straight, second half double-digit lead disappeared. This time, Akron, who trailed by five at the half and by 13 with 10 plus remaining, stormed back to take a 66-64 lead with 1:48 to play.

“When you have a lead, you have to finish it out,” said Waters.

His mix of veterans and youth wouldn’t let him down in the end.

Montgomery, who missed his first seven triple tries in this one, broke a 66-all tie by burying one from deep with 21 seconds left to win it for the Vikes. On a day where he couldn’t hit anything (2-12), the Senior leader came through once again as he has done so many times in his career.

Harmon again led them in scoring with 16. D’Aundrey Brown and Kamczyz each chipped in 13.

The win gave CSU a sweep of the two other local schools that he often battles with on the recruiting trail. They want to keep the wins coming with three more non-conference games before taking on Youngstown State on New Year’s Eve. First things first – Waters would like to make some corrections with his club. ”We can’t turn the ball over too many times and we need to stop constantly fouling.”

The difference in this year’s Vikings squad is the depth. With the departure of all-time great Norris Cole, CSU has become more of a team offensively and not so reliant on one guy. Eight players are averaging more than 13 minutes a game, and their leading scorer, Brown, averages just over 12 a game.

Up next for CSU is a trip to Tampa to take on Big East bottom feeder South Florida (6-4).

photo via John Kuntz/PD

From the bowels of The Wolstein Center to the bright lights near Biscayne Bay, former Cleveland State University guard Norris Cole has already made a name for himself within the National Basketball Association.  Cole, the 28th overall selection in the most recent NBA Draft and former bodily foundation for a killer high-top fade, provided his team, the Miami Heat, with 20 points off of the bench in a crucial seven-point win over the Boston Celtics, a win that took his team to 2-0 in the very young 2011-12 season.

Benefiting largely from a hot hand and being surrounded by three future Hall of Famers trading against a zone defense, Cole provided the Heat with 14 fourth-quarter points (nine of which came in the final three minutes), several of which came in crucial moments, helping his employer avoid what would have been a huge collapse against an Eastern Conference rival. Cole has always been a viable weapon, on and off of the court; a high school Salutatorian, four-year collegiate athlete and graduate, and once the owner of a 40-point, 20-rebound, nine-assist night. But on a team that isn’t exactly rife with point guard prowess, settling for re-signing Mario Chalmers and providing a jersey to something called a Mike Bibby, it is wildly enlightening to see a local product not only have a solid rookie effort this early in his career, but one that has helped his team win and put his name on the map in an even larger font.

Certainly, anyone in the state of Ohio (and even Horizon League rivals outside of it) were aware of Cole’s swagger and skill set. Heat coach Eric Spoelstra used adjectives like “mature” and “pure,” discussing how his rookie point guard is all about the team.  When his team had a 10-point lead following one of his jumpers, it would let that lead dwindle to three points before he was able to stop the bleeding, once again via the jump shot; Cole was 5-of-6 between 16 and 23 feet, the best mark of any player on this floor, on this night.

Even if he doesn’t have another 20-point night for the remainder of his stay within the league, Cole has already made a name for himself with one of the best teams in the league. And for one night, Cole received “MVP” chants from the few thousand fans within his home arena. Thats more than anyone could have imagined just two games into what is hopefully a very long and very successful career.

Somewhere, Gary Waters is smiling proudly.

–

(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Horizon League play is always done in pairs. Each team has a travelling partner and the norm is to play two games on the road or at home over a three day period. During the Gary Waters era at Cleveland State, the toughest road trip for any of the League foes is always the Indiana combo.

Friday night, the then-4-1 Vikings headed to take on their nemesis, Butler, at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in front of a National TV audience. As you know, the Bulldogs have been the darlings of the NCAA Tournament, making the last two National Championship games under the tutelage of wunderkind coach Brad Stevens. Since Waters took over in 2006, his teams are just 2-10 against Butler, with just one of those wins coming in Indy – the 2009 Horizon League title game.

So when the Vikes took the floor Friday night, they had plenty of payback on their mind. They lost three times to Butler last season and have the better team in 2012. They came out smokin from the start and never looked back in a hard-fought, 76-69 win, to put them in a first place tie at 5-1 with Milwaukee. The game was highly entertaining and the usually raucous Hinkle crowd was quieted early and often by the stifling Vikings defense.

The Senior duo of Tre Harmon and Tim Kamcyzc showed early that this one was going to be different. Harmon hit two threes and Kamczyc added seven quick points as CSU raced out to an 18-4 lead five minutes in. As they usually do, Butler creeped back ti within four points at 26-22 and re-energized the home crowd. They were silenced on the next trip down with a triple from the most unlikely of sources, 6-9 sophomore PF Luda Ndaye. It was his first three of the season and it couldn’t have come at a better time. At the half, CSU was clinging to a two-point lead and Butler seemed to carry the momentum.

A lot of it had to do with the officiating. I’ve seen a lot of games in my life, but I can’t remember one being so one-sided in terms of fouls being called. Butler fans will tell you its because of the swarming defense CSU plays. I will tell you the refs were blowing the whistles at a ridiculous rate. The Vikings were in foul trouble all night.

The second half was no different. Within the first 10 seconds, Center Aaron Pogue was whistled for his fourth foul and Butler would tie things at 35 before the Vikings got themselves back together. Kamczyc, who is playing some of the best basketball of his career, hit a three to break the tie and then Waters, so frustrated with the officiating, got  T’d up. By the Under 16 minute timeout, a Ronald Norad three and a free throw by Andrew Smith gave Butler its first lead at 41-40. CSU fans were all thinking “here we go again.” But this time, things would be different.

CSU hit the Bulldogs with a 9-1 run out of the timeout with four coming from Kamczyc and five from Jeremy Montgomery, who had been held scoreless the first 19 minutes of the game. The Senior from Chicago, who played a vital role off the bench as a Freshman in the Vikings upset win over the Bulldogs in the Horizon League championship game, would take over the game. He scored 16 of his 18 points after the break, including the dagger three with just under three minutes to play to put the Vikes up nine. ”I just felt good and in rhythm,” Montgomery said. “I love taking those type of shots.”

Waters’s club would leave Hinkle victorious, despite the fact that Butler shot a whopping 42 free throws. CSU attempted 23, but none of those were taken in the final minute with Butler attempting to stretch the game. Five Vikings had four fouls.

“I told them in the locker room, they did a great job under all the adversity,” Waters said. “I said: ‘I’m proud of you guys. You withstood all that and did what you had to do to be successful.’ ”

There was really no time for celebrating since they had to go to another tough venue a day and a half later. 4-2 Valparaiso was waiting and coming off a 14-point home win over Youngstown State, a team who stunned CSU for their only conference loss to date. You could almost see this result coming a mile away.

The Vikings came out sluggish, missing their signature tough defense, and allowed Valpo to shoot the lights out on their way to a 72-66 win. From the opening tip, this one was different. Led by Center Kevin Van Wijk, the Crusaders hit their first five shots and led 10-2 before the Vikes knew what hit them.

“When you get into an offensive game like this, you either got to match it, or you have got to stop it,” Waters said. “We didn’t do either one.”

They fought hard to get to within four at the half and trailed 29-25, but they had no answer for Van Wijk in the middle. They tried both Aaron Pogue and Anton Grady, but neither could contain the Crusader big. Throw in a dash of the Horizon League’s leading scorer, Ryan Broekhoff and a strong 24 points off the bench, and the Vikings just couldn’t handle Valpo’s offensive explosion. They started the second half hitting six of their first seven shots and finished the game shooting a jaw-dropping 60% from the field. Van Wijk led all scorers with 23.

CSU, who was so good from deep two nights before against Butler, hit just 6-21 (28%) and it cost them dearly. Only Kamczyc really played well, leading the Vikings with 18. Harmon, Montgomery, and D’Aundray Brown were a combined 11-39 from the floor. When three of your top four scorers struggle that mightily on the road, you aren’t going to come out on top, especially when the opponent hits 60% of their shots.

So the Vikings, who looked like they would be in great shape after the win at Butler, now sit in a muddled five team race at the top. Milwaukee, who visits the Wolstein Center on Saturday, leads at 6-1. CSU and Valpo are a game back at 5-2, with Youngstown State and Butler right there at 4-3.

Up next for CSU is a visit from Green Bay (7-10, 3-4) Thursday Night at 8 PM.

photo via Indianapolis Star 

It was a huge weekend for the Cleveland State Vikings basketball team. They entered Friday night’s home tilt with Green Bay in a three-way tie for the Horizon League lead with Valparaiso and the team they would be facing Sunday, Milwaukee. A sweep of the Wisconsin schools would be of the utmost importance, especially at home, considering the Vikings have already lost an in-conference home game against the upstart Youngstown State Penguins.

Before the first place showdown with the Panthers, CSU had to make sure they didn’t overlook Green Bay on Friday.

They didn’t.

In front of a National TV audience on ESPNU for the second straight week, the Vikings controlled the game and took down the fighting Phoenix 78-68. The first six minutes were a back and forth struggle, but after back to back threes by Senior Tre Harmon, the Vikings never looked back. They led by six at the half.

After the break, CSU jumped all over their opponents from the North. Their lead stretched to 18 thanks to an 8-0 run with just over 10 minutes to play. The bench bunch, led by Freshman Anton Grady and the once redshirted Marlin Mason, keyed the surged. At was over for all intents and purposes at that point. Fifth year Senior D’Aundrey Brown had a solid all around game with nine points, seven boards, and five assists, all while playing his customary lock down defense. Harmon was terrific all night, leading all scorers with 19 points, including 4-6 from deep.  Tim Kamczyc (12), Jeremy Montgomery (11), and Grady (10) all chipped in double figures.

Grady was a star again, grabbing 13 boards as well as he continues to impress. The local kid from Central Catholic is blossoming into a real stud off the bench. With Aaron Pogue constantly in foul trouble, Grady’s performance in league play thus far has been a welcome sight for Gary Waters. “He’s going to be our future,” the coach said after the win.

A night before, Milwaukee had been taken down in Youngstown, moving the Vikes into that three-way tie and putting a huge onus on yesterday’s first place battle.

It was a beautifully sunny Winter day in Cleveland, but I chose to go inside and watch Cleveland State attempt to knock Milwaukee down a peg. As much as a close game was anticipated (CSU was a five point favorite), the Vikings came strong from the opening tip, hitting shots and forcing turnovers. Before Rob Jeter’s club knew what hit them, his Panthers were down 13-3. Harmon, Montgomery, and Kamcyzc all hit three-point shots and CSU was off and running.

Believe it or not, a huge difference in the 83-57 blowout win was Pogue. The guy who seemingly averages a foul every two minutes, was a real force in the post. When he can get his big body going, it adds a whole different dimension to the perimeter-oriented Vikings offense. In 21 minutes, Pogue had 11 points and grabbed six rebounds. ”Having an inside presence like Aaron, often, I’m left on an island by myself,” Kamczyc said. Yes, Pogue committed his fourth foul with just under 10 minutes remaining, but at that point, CSU was in the midst of their game-sealing 13-0 run to stretch a 38-30 lead to 51-30. The Vikes sizzled in the second half, hitting a whopping 69% (18-26) from the floor.

“When we’re shooting the ball well, the game is over, because we’re going to defend you,” Waters said.

The scoring was as balanced as any coach would love to see. That is the beauty of this particular team. Anyone of these guys can be the offensive star. On Sunday afternoon, six Vikings were in double figures – all five starters and Grady – with Harmon’s 15 tops on the team. They hit seven threes on 13 attempts, including a perfect 4-4 from Kamczyc, and the bench chipped in with 23. Defensively, CSU forced 15 turnovers and held Milwaukee to just 35% shooting.

With the easy win over Milwaukee completing the Wisconsin weekend sweep, the Vikings kept pace with Valparaiso at 7-2 atop the Horizon League. Valpo went on the road and won two in Chicago, at Loyola on Thursday and at UIC on Saturday. The Crusaders have just two road trips remaining – the Wisconsin and Ohio schools. Those will not be easy places to win. Youngstown State is the league’s biggest surprise, sitting just a game back at 6-3 after thrashing Green Bay yesterday by 30, two days after their two point win over Milwaukee. CSU has the Chicago and Wisconsin trips remaining, as well as a big time game up next at Youngstown State on Saturday, who dealt the Vikes their only home loss this season, 73-67 on New Year’s Eve.

“We have a new saying,” Pogue said.  ”It’s ‘no mas.’ No more losses this season.”

Well said, Aaron. Lets hope he is right.

(photo via Lynn Ischay/The Plain Dealer)

It was only their biggest game of the year to date. With the potential to take sole control of first place in the Horizon League, controlling their own destiny the rest of the way, the Cleveland State Vikings came out of the tunnel for their showdown with Valparaiso seemingly ready. Their largest crowd of the year (4,521) was ready. Everyone was on their feet as the ball went in their air…. and just like that, everything went, splat.

Valpo took control from the opening tip and never looked back. In the blink of an eye, the Vikings were down 17-1. While the Crusaders were hitting everything, the home team couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn (unofficial count had CSU missing NINE first half layups, en route to a 25% shooting evening). Even with star Center Kevin Van Wijk going down with an injury just seven minutes into the game, Valpo just took it to Cleveland State. Outside bomber Ryan Broekoff exploded for 24 points and reserve forward Richie Edwards added 20. For the first time in ages, the Vikings were not the aggressor; their opponent was.

And it never got any better as Valpo led by 12 at the half and by as many as 23 on CSU’s home floor on their way to a 59-41 pasting of the Vikings.

While the 25% field goal percentage tells a huge part of the story in this one, one stat in particular can be pointed to as the difference. Valparaiso shot 11-22 (50%) from three-point land while CSU was a putrid 1-13 (7%). The closest the Vikings got after falling behind 17-1 eight minutes into the game was when they scratched and clawed their way to that 12 point halftime deficit. But the game was never really that close.

Head Coach Gary Waters, in a “master of the obvious” quote after the game, said “That was a bad outing for us.”

That is an understatement.

The main issue now is that with Valpo’s big win, they have swept Cleveland State and now essentially hold a two-game lead in the race for the Horizon League regular season title. Its going to be next to impossible for CSU to catch Valpo in disecting the schedules. Valpo has just four Horizon League games left, while CSU has five. Two of the Crusaders four games remaining are against league bottom feeders Loyola (0-13) and UIC (3-10) at home. Theyir lone road game remaining is Saturday against Youngstown State. The Vikings still have to travel to Wisconsin to face tough opponents Green Bay (5-7) and Milwaukee (8-6).

The goal now for Waters’s club should be to hang on to that second place slot and grab one of the two all important double byes in the Horizon League tournament. Hosting the tournament at the Wolstein Center more than likely became a pipe dream after last night’s no show.

To make matter worse, Senior D’Aundrey Brown, who has been nursing a sore groin and missed the last game, attempted to give it a go in this all important match up last night. He ended up playing just eight first half minutes and re-injuring himself. Waters said after the game we probably won’t see Brown again until next week at the earliest. On this night, Im not even sure a healthy Brown would have made a big difference. CSU’s shooters were all cold at the same time on the wrong night.

Leading scorers Jeremy Montgomery and Tre Harmon were a combined 8-30 and missed 10 of the 11 threes they took.  Junior Tim Kamczyc played 38 minutes and took just five shots, hitting two. Aaron Pogue and Anton Grady were stifled in the post. It just wasn’t CSU’s night.

Unfortunately, this all happened in front of a huge crowd at the Wolstein Center. The hope was they could win this thing, build off of that momentum, and ride it through the Butler game Saturday all the way through to the Horizon League title. Ah, the best laid plans. CSU must now go the route they did when they took down Butler in March of 2009 – win on the road in the Horizon League Tournament to get that bid to the big dance.

(photo via Scott Shaw/PD)

This one really hurt.

The Cleveland State men’s basketball team was riding high, sitting atop the Horizon League in control of their own destiny to host the conference tournament just two short weeks ago. Fast forward to last night, and not only has the league lead been taken away from them completely, but all of a sudden the all important double-bye in the tournament is on its way to disappearing.

Coming off of a pair of ill-timed home losses to league leading Valparaiso and Butler last week, the Vikings travelled to Wisconsin for the tough battle against Milwaukee. The Panthers, a team that CSU has caught, jumped, and pounded at the Wolstein Center 83-57 on January 22nd, took it to the Vikings and handed them their third straight loss last night 86-84. It wasn’t just that they lost, it was how the game ended.

The Vikings played their worst defensive game of the season, allowing 50 points to the Panthers in the first half and headed into the locker room trailing by nine. They trailed by as many as 16 in the second half before storming all the way back to tie the game on a Jeremy Montgomery layup with 40 seconds left. Milwaukee decided to hold for the last shot. Kaylon Williams missed a jumper, got his own rebound, missed again, and CSU tipped the ball out of bounds with one second left.

After a Milwaukee timeout, Tony Meier caught the inbounds pass and launched a desperation heave. Vikings Freshman Marlin Mason, standing in front of Meier, was whistled for a phantom foul call with just one second left on the clock.

“His hands were right like this,” Waters said, holding his arms straight up. “He went up like this and his hands were straight in the air. That was not a foul.”

Meier made the first two free throws and missed the third. An Anton Grady heave was way short.

The shame of it all is that the CSU offense finally woke up from its slump, shooting 60% from the field and scoring 84 points. Vikings fans know, if they shoot that way, they almost never lose. Notice I said “almost.” Tre Harmon led all scorers with 27 points, Montgomery added 15, and freshman PG Charles Lee had 14 off the bench. But the defense failed them, giving up 13 three pointers to Milwaukee, and with the help of the refs, allowed the Panthers to get to the line a whopping 40 times, where they made 33 free throws. This majorly stuck in Waters’s craw after the game, especially the final call on Mason.

“When you have two teams that play that hard, all you have to do is go to overtime and see who pulls it out. Our kids had to play over too much stuff today.”

You had to feel for Mason, who had his redshirt lifted earlier in the season when Sebastian Douglas tore his ACL and is playing major minutes with D’Aundrey Brown out with a groin injury. ”This kid that they called that foul on, he’s sitting in there crying,” Waters said. “He’s a freshman. He’s crying. This is what he feels. Then we try to console him and make him feel better about himself.”

The entire team needs some consoling right about now. They have lost three straight at the worst possible time and with Butler’s three-game winning streak going on simultaneously, the Vikings sit just a half game ahead of the Bulldogs in the race for the all important second place finish, which gives the team a double bye into the Horizon League conference tournament semi-finals. Butler has games remaining with 3-12 UIC and Valparaiso. Valpo, for all intents are purposes, has the regular season crown locked up at 12-4, with CSU sitting at 10-5 with three games left.  The Vikes still have Green Bay on the road next Tuesday, then finish with tough home games against Detroit and Wright State.

(Rick Wood/Milwaukee Sentinal)

What has happened to the Cleveland State Vikings?

Once the darlings of the Horizon League, the wheels have come off of the proverbial wagon and Head Coach Gary Waters has been left scratching his head, wondering how things turned so quickly towards the negative.

The Vikes were 20-4, 10-2 in the conference and battling it out with Valparaiso for league supremacy. Then Valpo came to town on February 9^th for the ultimate showdown.  The winner would be in control their own destiny for the regular season title as well as the inside track to host the Conference Tournament. Instead of coming out hyped on their home floor where they have been so good during the Waters era, CSU laid a major egg, being blown out in front of their biggest crowd of the season. The loss gave Valpo essentially a two-game lead on Cleveland State, since they had now beaten them twice.

Little did we know that was just going to be the beginning of the Vikings swoon.

Two days later, in front of a National TV audience, Butler came into the Wolstein Center and stole a game the Vikings should have won. For the second straight game, the shooting was brutal. They didn’t have time to recover as they had to travel to Milwaukee last Tuesday, a team that CSU caught for first place in the Horizon League a month ago. The only good thing that came out of this game was the offense woke up. The Vikings put 84 points on the board, but trailed most of the game before tying things up in the last minute. The 13-point second half comeback was all for naught as Freshman Marlin Mason was whistled for a phantom foul with one second left on the clock. A game that looked as though would head to overtime with CSU carrying the momentum, turned into a two-point loss on free throws.

The spiral downward took on a life of its own over the weekend. In the Bracket Buster game, CSU was pitted against CAA leader Drexel. This was a good measuring stick for the Vikings and a chance to clear their heads against a team not in their league and hopefully work out the kinks. Instead, Drexel pasted CSU on their home floor by 20.

It didn’t stop there.

Facing a must-win on the road against under .500 Green Bay on Tuesday night, the Vikings again got clipped. Once a lock for the Horizon League double-bye, CSU now sits in third place, a half game behind Butler at 10-6. Detroit, the preseason pick to win the conference, has turned their game up while CSU has been faltering. The Titans, tied with the Vikings for third at 10-6, ride into the Wolstein Center on a five-game winning streak for tonight’s pivotal matchup. They are loaded with talent, including former McDonalds All-American PG Ray McCallum Jr., all-conference caliber players in Center Eli Holman and SG Chase Simon, and one of the best leapers in the country in Doug Anderson.

They seem to be catching the Vikings at the right time. The winner of this contest will be in a second place tie with Butler. CSU split with the Bulldogs, while Detroit swept them. Butler’s final conference game is Saturday on the road against league champion Valparaiso, CSU finishes at home against Wright State, and Detroit heads to Youngstown State.

What cannot go unmentioned is the loss of Senior forward D’Aundray Brown. The beginning of the five-game slide came as the team’s leading scorer and top defender re-aggravated his injured groin. He played just eight first half minutes in the loss to Valpo and hasn’t seen the floor since. Brown has yet to be ruled out for tonight’s game against Detroit, but he is more of a game-time decision as of now. This club deeply misses not just his play on the floor, but his leadership. This is a kid who has been through the wars. He along with fellow Seniors Jeremy Montgomery and Tre Harmon all played key roles on CSU’s 2009 NCAA Tournament team. They are the heart and soul of this group. But the Vikings have looked like a loss bunch without their leader.

Whether Brown can come back and play, the rest of the group needs to step up and win these next two games. Getting the double-bye in the conference tournament is of the utmost importance. Winning out at worst will put them in the top three, giving them a first round bye (The top two teams get double byes, the third place gets a first round bye). Two losses could drop CSU all the way down as low as seventh in the muddled middle of the Horizon League standings, meaning they would have to win three games just to get to the title game.

Let’s hope the Vikings can right the ship starting tonight, take care of business Saturday against Wright State, and build on that momentum into the Horizon League tournament.

When we last left our Cleveland State Vikings, they were losers of five straight. This reeling bunch, which once stared down the Horizon League title and then fell completely off the table, had two games left to make things somewhat right. On Thursday night, they faced a pseudo-double bye chance elimination game with Detroit (sporting the same 10-6 conference mark as CSU). The Titans came to Cleveland on a five-game winning streak. Still without their Senior leader and defensive stopper D’Aundray Brown, it was put up or shut up time for the Vikes.

Like they have so many times in the Gary Waters era, Cleveland State rose to the occasion and leaned on their defense in the second half, erasing a six point halftime deficit on its way to a 77-64 win over the talented Titans. CSU held Detroit to just five second half field goals (on 23 shots) and 29% shooting for the game. The duo of Anton Grady and Aaron Pogue did a great job holding UDM Center Eli Holman to just six points on 3-10 shooting, which was key during the second half surge. Offensively Senior Tre Harmon’s 16 led four Vikings in double figures.

The Freshman duo of Marlin Mason and Charles Lee came up huge in a time when their team needed it the most.  Mason, who had played more than 18 minutes just once and never scored more than six points in a game, exploded for 15 points in 32 minutes.  ”That’s the best I’ve ever played, defensively and offensively,” he said.  Lee came off the bench to add 12 points and five assists, and was subsequently moved into the starting lineup for the next game. They really were the difference makers in this one.

Throw in eight points in 12 solid minutes from little-used Ike Nwamu, and Waters bench outscored Detroit’s 25-10.

“Their will, their bench, was a huge factor down the stretch,” Detroit coach Ray McCallum said. “Lee and Mason did a nice job. They really turned it up tonight.”

Now with the five-game losing streak behind them, Waters and his team could exhale briefly. Even though they had to wait until Saturday to play their next game, good news came Friday night. Valparaiso, the team that had already clinched the Horizon League title, knocked off Butler 71-59 while essentially playing for nothing. The Valpo W gave Cleveland State the power to control their own destiny for the #2 seed and the double bye in this week’s Horizon League tournament, hosted by Valpo. The Vikes woke up Saturday knowing a win over Wright State puts them two wins from the NCAA Tournament.

Just as they did two days before against Detroit, Cleveland State used a stellar second half defensive performance to pull away from Wright State and win in blowout fashion, 77-55 on a day Seniors Harmon, Jeremy Montgomery, Pogue, and the injured D’Aundray Brown were honored.

The Vikings led by just three at the half, but the offense caught fire, hitting 74% of their shots and scoring 47 points. Harmon again was the man, leading all scorers with 20. Montgomery added 17 and the Freshman Grady had 12 points and eight boards in 24 minutes. Another true team effort clinched that #2 seed and the all-important double bye into the Horizon League semifinals.

“It don’t matter who we are playing,” Montgomery said. “We have our swagger back.”

The two wins to close out the season turned out to be monster. Had the Vikes lost one of those two, they would have been in the pack of 11-7 teams and subjected to a whole host of tie-breakers that wouldn’t have ended well. But, they didn’t and thanks to those tie-breakers, they are looking at a very favorable draw and they only have to play two games instead of four.

Valpo (14-4) and CSU (12-6) are the top two seeds and receive double-byes. Detroit, Milwaukee, and Butler all 11-7 were seeded accordingly based upon tie breakers. The way things shook out, Butler – CSU’s nemesis, and Milwaukee are on Valpo’s half of the draw, while Detroit, who the Vikings swept, is the best of the lot on their side. Trust me when I tell you this is a huge break for Cleveland State.

Best of all for the Vikings; they will have Brown back for Saturday’s Semifinal game. They extra rest certainly helps. ”Percentagewise, I think I’m about 80 percent, 85 percent,”  he said after Thursday night’s win against Detroit. Waters ended up holding him out Saturday as well. ”He could not move laterally like he wanted,” he said. “So we held him back for another week.”

The tournament commences with Tuesday night’s first round on campus sites.

First Round – Tuesday, Feb. 28 (campus sites)
Game 1: (10) Loyola at (3) Detroit, 7 p.m. ET
Game 2: (7) Green Bay at (6) Youngstown State, 7:05 p.m. ET
Game 3: (9) UIC at (4) Milwaukee, 8 p.m. ET
Game 4: (8) Wright State at (5) Butler, 7 p.m. ET

Second Round – Friday, March 2 (Valparaiso)
Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 6 p.m. ET (Horizon League Network | ESPN3)
Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 8:30 p.m. ET (Horizon League Network | ESPN3)

Semifinals – Saturday, March 3 (Valparaiso)
Game 7: Game 5 winner vs. (2) Cleveland State, 6 p.m. ET (ESPNU – tape delayed at 10:30 p.m. ET; live on ESPN3)
Game 8: Game 6 winner at (1) Valparaiso, 8:30 p.m. ET (ESPNU)

Championship – Tuesday, March 6 (highest remaining seed)
Game 9: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner

(info courtesy of HorizonLeague.org)

(photo via John Kuntz/PD)

It wasn’t supposed to end that way. A season that started with a shocking 71-58 road win at #7 Vanderbilt, rode a 12-2 start to a 20-4 Horizon League lead, crashed and burned on a Valparaiso Saturday night.

In the semifinals of the Horizon League tournament, the second-seeded Cleveland State Vikings faced the Detroit Titans, who finished tied for third in the league and earned the  third seed thanks to a sweep of Butler. UDM came into Saturday’s tilt needing two victories just to get the opportunity to face the Vikings, the recipient of a double-bye. The draw look auspicious for CSU, considering that nemesis Butler and top seeded Valparaiso were on the other half of the draw. The Vikings had already beaten Detroit both times they played in the regular season, including a 77-64 win just a week ago. Gary Waters’s club was also welcoming back Senior leader SF D’Aundray Brown, their second leading scorer and best defensive player.

It all looked so good on paper. The Vikings had floundered down the stretch, but seemed to gotten their acts together with back to back home wins to close out the regular season. With Brown back and four seniors ready to take their last shot at the NCAA Tournament, the Vikings looked like they were ready to roll.

Then the game happened.

A team they dominated twice during the regular season took it right at the Vikings and beat them at their own game. Detroit’s Ray McCallum Jr, a former McDonald’s All-American, was unstoppable, eating the CSU guards for dinner. They tried Tre Harmon on him. They tried Jeremy Montgomery on him. They even gave the defensive-minded Brown a shot with his length. Nobody could slow down McCallum who hit seven of 10 shots from the field and 11 of 13 from the free throw line on his way to 26 points. Not only was McCallum scoring, but he was knifing through the CSU pressure defense with relative ease. The Titans did nothing special outside of their point guard’s brilliance, but it was enough to hold on for a 63-58 win.

The Titans move onto the finals to face Valparaiso who worked over Butler by 19 in the other semifinal. The Vikings now sit, wait, and hope for an NIT bid.

“We beat ourselves today. We felt it had nothing to do with them, it was only us,” said a disgusted Waters after the game. He watched as his team trailed by as many as 12 with just under 10 minutes remaining. Like they have done so many times, the Vikings fought all the way back to tie things at 49 with 3:07 to play on two Brown free throws. They had the ball in their hands with nine seconds left, down by three. Freshman Charles Lee rushed a triple try up without even looking at a teammate to pass to. The shot was blocked by UDM’s LaMarcus Lowe. McCallum’s two free throws iced the game.

“We have no one to blame for this but ourselves,” said Waters.

So this is how it all ends for Brown, Montgomery, Harmon, and Aaron Pogue? Brown was terrific, but the other three Seniors subpar performances down the stretch had Waters going to his Freshman Lee, Marlin Mason, and even little-used Ike Nwamu more than he thought he would. In fact, it was Lee and Nwamu who were on the floor at the end of the game. They all gave their best, but they came up short in the end.

“I feel really bad for the seniors,” said Kamczyc, who added “I have never seen anyone play as hard as D’Aundray. He played his heart out tonight.”

This season seemed to have so much promise, but this group of hard-nosed over-achievers may have just played over their heads during the first two-thirds of the season. Maybe the injury to Brown exposed their shortcomings and by the time they tried to stop the bleeding, it was too late. Waters showed some desperation by moving Lee into the starting lineup at point guard late in the season and moving Montgomery off the ball. He also began giving important minutes to Mason and Nwamu over the last month. Tinkering with the rotation that late in the season is not something that you usually do. But Waters obviously felt that he had to do something.

Regardless, the season came to a screeching halt before it was supposed to. And now Waters and his team has to wait and see if they will play on in either the NIT or CBI tournaments.

“This hurts because we didn’t play the way we can,” said Waters. “That’s what bothers me the most.”

Ah, we have arrived at March Madness. It is my favorite time of year. Now the country’s eyes are focused on a sport I follow intently all year long. I have a lot of friends that are of the “call me in March” group who love to parachute in for the tournament, but that is all right with me. Come one, come all, to the best event in all of sports.

Locally, we have lots to look forward to and to watch, starting as early as Tuesday night:

Ohio State – The Buckeyes, coming off a loss to Michigan State in the Big Ten finals, look to have regained some of their mojo over the past three weeks. The selection committee placed them as the #2 seed in the East Region, where Syracuse sits on top. Thursday in Pittsburgh, OSU will face 15th seeded Loyola (MD), winners of the MAAC Tournament. The thing they are best known for is their media darling coach Jimmy Patsos, who you will hear about 100 times this week as the “former bartender turned coach.” He was one of Gary Williams’s top assistants at Maryland for years before finally getting the gig at Loyola eight years ago.

That first round matchup shouldn’t be a problem for Thad Matta’s club, but the next opponent could cause some problems. In a strange move, the committee put #7 Gonzaga vs #10 West Virginia in the pod. Morgantown, West Virginia is just 75 miles from Pittsburgh and the Mountaineer fans will no doubt fill the Consol Energy Center both Thursday and Saturday should they win. Its not like Gonzaga will be bringing thousands with them from Spokane, Washington. If WVU beats the Zags, Ohio State could have a borderline road game on their hands. Not a good move by the committee.

With that said, this is not one of Bob Huggins’s better teams at West Virginia and they could very easily lose to Gonzaga and make this point entirely moot. These few days of rest should benefit Ohio State, Jared Sullinger in particular. Playing three games in three days with an extremely short bench is a lot of work. It should be interesting to see how Matta juggles the minutes to keep his kids fresh in that opener against Loyola.

Ohio – Boy is Brady Hoke going to be confused.

The Bobcats won the MAC tournament championship in a highly entertaining 64-63 tilt with Akron. With the automatic bid, they head to the NCAA Tournament where they were matched up with the Michigan Wolverines. This is a 4/13 matchup in the Midwest Region. The game will be played Friday in Nashville.

What makes this game interesting is the side story. If you recall, OU head coach John Groce, a former Ohio State assistant, came out and said he and the University take great offense to the fact that Michigan football coach Brady Hoke continues to only refer OSU as “Ohio.” In an ironic twist, the Maise and Blue will be facing off with “The Real Ohio” and their tough PG D.J. Cooper. The Junior was a starter on the OU team two years ago who knocked off Georgetown in the first round, scoring 23 points on the way. He now gets another shot to carry this team into the NCAAs.

Groce is a rising star in the coaching profession and an upset or two will only raise his profile. However, it won’t be an easy task. John Beilein’s Michigan club plays a style that teams outside of the Big Ten are not used to seeing. They are a mix of experience (Zack Novak and Stu Douglass) and quality youth (Tim Hardaway jr. and Trey Burke) that loves to shoot the three-ball and incorporates a 1-3-1 half court trap defense at times.

CSU & Akron – While both programs were disappointed by how their seasons ended the Cleveland State Vikings and Akron Zips will continue playing after all. Both were invited to play in the NIT and accepted the invitations.

The Vikings, who lost in the semifinals of the Horizon League tournament to the eventual champion Detroit, were given a six seed and will be sent out West to play at Stanford late Tuesday night. The Cardinal finished seventh in the Pac-12 conference, but won 21 games. Their only common opponent was Butler, whom Stanford lost to at home 71-66. CSU split with the Bulldogs.

You have to be happy for CSU’s four seniors D’Aundray Brown, Jeremy Montgomery, Tre Harmon, and Aaron Pogue. They four were a part of so much success during their careers and they get another opportunity to continue. The NIT will also be a great experience for the next generation of CSU’s core – Anton Grady, Charles Lee, and company.

The Zips were a part of that heartbreaking loss to OU Saturday night, but like CSU, they have a chance at redemption. Their NIT game will precede the Vikings/Cardinal tilt on ESPN2 Tuesday night. Their opponent will be the Big Ten’s requisite bridesmaid, Northwestern.

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Its Tournament time people. Get ready to call in sick and join me for non-stop hoops action all week long.

(AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Since the salad days of Kevin Mackey, the “Run and Stun,” and Ken “The Mouse ” McFadden, there were some seriously lean times for the Cleveland State Men’s College Basketball team. From Mike Boyd to the disastrous Rollie Massimino hire to Mike Garland, the program was headed in the wrong direction.

Enter Gary Waters.

The former head coach at Kent State came back to Ohio after a failed stint at Rutgers, never an easy place to win in the loaded Big East. Waters arrived in Cleveland in 2006 with a plan to get the Vikings back to the top of the Horizon League and he has done just that. He enters his seventh season piloting the Vikes, where he has gone 122-82. Most importantly, Waters has taken CSU to four postseason appearances, including the school’s second NCAA Tournament bid where they upset fourth-seeded Wake Forest in the first round.

All of this has added up to Waters getting extended by the school late yesterday for seven more years.

In a press release, CSU President Ronald Berkman praised the veteran coach:

“Coach Waters is a highly respected leader whose teams excel on and off the basketball court. Coach Waters fully expects his students-athletes to give nothing less in the classroom then they give on the basketball court. We are grateful that Coach Waters has made the commitment to realize his goal of building a storied basketball program at CSU.”

The new-look Vikings start their season tonight at the Wolstein Center against Grambling. This is supposed to be a rebuilding year for CSU with the losses of mainstays Jeremy Montgomery, Tre Harmon, Aaron Pogue, and D’Aundrey Brown, but there is still a lot of young talent on-hand.  Only one starter returns from last year’s group – Tim Kamczyc – but Waters brings back PF Anton Grady who could have a metoric rise as the featured frontcourt scorer from the Vikings.

Grady has the chance to be a first-team All-Horizon League player. Think of the jump Thomas Robinson made at Kansas last year. You could see something similar from the uber-talented Grady. Back in October, NBC Sports lead college basketball writer Rob Dauster listed his 15 Players with breakout potential nationally. Here is what he said about Grady:

Cleveland State head coach Gary Waters has called Anton Grady his future, and he’s right. He was incredibly productive — 8.5 points, 6.4 boards, 1.4 blocks, the team lead in offensive and defensive rebounding percentages — in limited minutes as a freshman, and with so much of Cleveland State’s production from last season graduating, Grady will have plenty of opportunities. Even without Butler in the league, the Horizon has quite a bit of talent. Grady might be the best player in the league.

The 6-7 Kamzyc will be counted on again to provide not only leadership, but three-point shooting as well. He hit 46% from deep last season. ”He’s the iron man,” said Waters. “We’re going to ask him to score a little more this year.”

Rotation players SF Marlin Mason, PG Charles Lee, and PF Luda N’daye return to give Waters experience.

After giving up a redshirt season in mid-season, Mason spent time in and out of Waters’s dog house last year but found himself on the floor at the end of big games late in the season. However, this will be his first big chance as a major contributor.

Lee spent plenty of time running the CSU offense last season as the backup to Montgomery and the first guard off the bench. Waters says he is ready to take the lead full time. ”I’m giving him the ball,” Waters said. “He’s played in some big games. The biggest thing for him last year was getting adjusted to the physicality of the game. That boy got beat up.”

Watch out for under the radar returnee PF/C Devin Long and Freshman swingman Junior Lomomba, who Waters has raved about this preseason.

Said the coach: “He’s major piece of the puzzle that glues everything to-gether. He uses his strength and athletic ability to make plays on offense, while his length allows him to guard any position on the perimeter. He’s as good a freshman as there is coming into this league.”

The Vikings were picked to finish fifth in the preseason poll with last year’s top two teams, Valparaiso and Detroit tabbed as #1 and #2. But with Waters at the helm, anything is possible.