By Missy Grimes

3/26/2025

Daytona Beach, FL-The Cleveland State men’s basketball team saw its run in the College Basketball Invitational come to an end on Tuesday as the Vikings fell 79-68 to Illinois State in the championship game. Cleveland State finishes the season with a 23-13 overall record. This is the fourth consecutive year that Cleveland State has won 20 games or more and head coach Daniyal Robinson surpassed Kevin Mackey for most wins all-time in his first three seasons in charge of the program with 65.

The two teams went back and forth early before Illinois State took command late in the first half. The Redbirds widened the lead as high as 15 in the second half. Cleveland State attempted to cut into the deficit but could not draw even as the second half came to a close. Wednesday’s game was the third in three days for the Vikings who made the program’s first-ever appearance in a postseason tournament championship game.

It was the final game in green and white for three Cleveland State seniors as Tevin Smith, Chase Robinson and Ebrima Dibba closed out their college careers. Smith finished with 16 points on 5-for-10 shooting from the field. Robinson had 11 points and was a perfect 3-for-3 from the free throw line. Dibba tallied two points and three rebounds.

Je’Shawn Stevenson finished with 11 points. Isaac Abidde and Tahj Staveskie added 10 points apiece. Staveskie was named to the all-tournament team after scoring in double figures in all three games of the tournament.

The score was tight early with neither team holding more than a one possession lead until Cleveland State went ahead by four at the 11:44 mark of the first half on a Stevenson driving layup. The four-point lead turned out to be the largest of the night for the Vikings.

It was a two-point game with a little over four minutes to play when the Redbirds took control. ISU closed the half outscoring Cleveland State by a 14-7 margin including a buzzer-beating three that gave Illinois State a nine-point lead at the break.

The Vikings attempted to chip away in the second half and trimmed the deficit to five on multiple occasions but could not get any closer the rest of the way. The trip to the CBI marks the fifth consecutive season the program has appeared in the postseason.

COURTESY CLEVELAND STATE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS