Game 16 – Cleveland State at Wright State
Cleveland State Game Notes | Wright State Game Notes
January 4, 2024
Nutter Center – Fairborn, OH
All-Time vs. Wright State: 39-43
Last Meeting: 2/17/23 85-68 W
Tickets: wsuraiders.com
Radio: Fox Sports 1350 AM
Play-By-Play: Al Pawlowski, Ed Daugherty(Host)
TV: ESPN2
Play-By-Play: Jordan Bernfield, David Padgett
SETTING THE SCENE
The Cleveland State Men’s Basketball team travels to Wright State for a Thursday night matchup on national television early in the Horizon League season. The Vikings have won four in a row coming into Thursday night’s game and sit at 3-1 in league play. This is the second game of a two-game road swing. Wright State is 1-2 in league play and has dropped its last two league games coming into Thursday’s matchup. The Raiders return home after playing two games on the road last week.
THE CLEVELAND STATE/WRIGHT STATE SERIES
This matchup will be the 83rd all-time meeting between Cleveland State and Wright State. The Raiders lead the all-time series by a narrow 43-39 margin. Cleveland State has won the last four matchups in the series, including both games last season. The Vikings defeated the Raiders 85-77 in Fairborn on January 21 and then won the most recent matchup 85-68 in Cleveland on February 17. Tristan Enaruna had big games in both meetings, averaging 20.5 points per game in the two Viking victories.
CLEVELAND STATE WINS FOURTH IN A ROW AT IUPUI
Cleveland State picked up its fourth win in a row and its second consecutive league victory in downing IUPUI on Sunday afternoon, 86-77 in Indianapolis. The Vikings had four players in double figures led by Jayson Woodrich who struck for a career-high 23 points. Cleveland State built a double-digit lead early in the second half before IUPUI charged back to tie it with seven minutes remaining. The Vikings responded with a late run to close the game and secure the victory. The win is the ninth straight for the Vikings over the Jaguars in the series.
CLEVELAND STATE PICKS UP #HLMBB VICTORY OVER OAKLAND
Cleveland State defeated Oakland 75-67 Thursday night at the Wolstein Center to move to 2-1 in league play. The Vikings led the entire way, building a lead as large as 23 points in the first half. Oakland punched back in the second half but the Vikings held firm and secured the victory. Cleveland State showed its depth with four Vikings finishing in double figures. The Vikings built the first half lead despite Tristan Enaruna picking up two fouls and heading to the bench for the majority of the first half. The win marked the 16th consecutive home victory for the Vikings dating back to January 7.
SCOUTING THE RAIDERS
Wright State is 6-8 on the season and 1-2 in league play headed into Thursday night’s matchup. The Raiders defeated IUPUI in their opening league game before falling to Milwaukee and Green Bay on the road last week. WSU is led by preseason Horizon League Player of the Year Trey Calvin who leads a quartet of Raiders who average double figures in scoring. Calvin averages 20 points per game which leads the Horizon League and ranks 22nd nationally. Scott Nagy is in his eighth season as the head coach. Nagy has amassed over 500 victories in his head coaching career which spans 26 seasons.
CLEVELAND STATE CLOSES NON-CONFERENCE SLATE WITH WIN OVER WESTERN MICHIGAN
Cleveland State defeated Western Michigan on Thursday night to close the non-conference portion of its scchedule with a 90-77 victory. The Vikings finish the non-conference season with a 7-4 overall record and winning all six home games against non-conference foes. Tristan Enaruna and Jayson Woodrich each had career nights in the win, with Enaruna finishing with 32 points and Woodrich finishing with 21. Enaruna recorded a double-double finishing with 10 rebounds in the contest. Woodrich added six rebounds to go with his 21 points and finished a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe.
CLEVELAND STATE EARNS FIRST ROAD WIN OF THE SEASON AT BRADLEY
Cleveland State defeated Bradley on Friday night by a final score of 76-69 to earn the first road victory of the 2023-24 season. Drew Lowder and Tristan Enaruna combined for 49 points in leading the Vikings to a come-from-behind win over the Braves. Cleveland State trailed by five with under four minutes remaining before catching fire, posting a 12-0 run in the game’s final minutes to seize control and earn the victory. Enaruna and Lowder combined for all 12 points in the scoring run, with each tallying a key three-pointer in the outburst. The game was close throughout with neither team holding more than a seven-point advantage.
CLEVELAND STATE EARNS VIKING INVITATIONAL TITLE
Cleveland State posted a 2-0 week inside Woodling Gymnasium in claiming the Viking Invitational tournament championship over Thanksgiving Weekend. The host Vikings tallied wins over East Tennessee State and Alabama A&M in claiming the top spot. The Vikings defeated ETSU in a thriller to kick off the tournament, with Tristan Enaruna tallying the last four points, including the game winning bucket with under four seconds left which lifted the Vikings to a 72-70 win. Cleveland State rolled past Alabama A&M in the final game of the tournament, winning 86-59 to close out the weekend. Four Vikings finished in double figures and all but one of the ten players who saw action in the contest cracked the score sheet.
CLEVELAND STATE EARNS 82-78 WIN OVER OHIO
Cleveland State earned the program’s third all-time victory in the series against Ohio and the first since 1998 with a strong performance Saturday at the Wolstein Center. The game was back and forth the entire way and featured 13 lead changes and 13 ties. Tristan Enaruna led the way for the Vikings with a season-high 22 points, six rebounds and a career-high six assists. Jayson Woodrich also finished in double figures with 14 points on 4-5 shooting from three-point range, including multiple critical makes down the stretch to push the Vikings in front.
DANIYAL ROBINSON ACHIEVES RECORD-SETTING FIRST SEASON
Cleveland State head coach Daniyal Robinson set a new school record in his first season in charge of the program. Robinson and the Vikings recorded 21 wins in 2022-23, which is the most wins of any first-year head coach in school history. Cleveland State finished as the runner-up in the Horizon League Tournament and made the program’s third-straight postseason appearance, earning a trip to the CBI. Should the Vikings reach the postseason this year, it would be the first time in school history that CSU has reached the postseason four consecutive years.
VIKINGS PICKED FOURTH IN #HLMBB PRESEASON POLL
Cleveland State was picked to finish fourth in the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll following a vote amongst league head coaches, media members and Sports Information Directors from the league’s 11 participating schools. Cleveland State received one first-place vote and finished with 362 points. In addition, senior forward Tristan Enaruna was named to the all-league first team after averaging 15.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game last season.
ENARUNA EARNS SECOND #HLMBB PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARD
Following a career-high 32 points against Western Michigan, Tristan Enaruna picked up his second Horizon League Player of the Week award, the league office announced Tuesday. Enaruna makes it back-to-back weekly awards for the Vikings after Drew Lowder earned the honor last week. Enaruna tied a career mark with 12 made field goals in the game and also finished with 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. He finished 7-of-9 from the charity stripe and added four assists and four steals, each of which led the team.
DREW LOWDER NAMED #HLMBB PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Following a 26-point night against Bradley on Friday, senior guard Drew Lowder was named the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Player of the Week, the league office announced on Monday. Lowder finished one point shy of his career high, set in the season opener at Duquesne, and tied his career best with six three-pointers in nine attempts. He also registered a career-high four steals. Lowder helped ignite the Vikings down the stretch, as he scored five points as part of the closing 12-0 run that secured the victory. Lowder hit the game-tying three-pointer with 3:23 remaining and the Vikings led for good after that point. This is Lowder’s first league player of the week award.
UP NEXT
Cleveland State returns to the Wolstein Center to host Northern Kentucky this coming Sunday at 4:00 p.m. in a matchup of last year’s Horizon League Tournament Championship game.
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