Cleveland, OH-The Cleveland State men's basketball team defeated Eastern Michigan on Saturday afternoon, 71-63. The win improved CSU to 3-2 overall and gives the Vikings a two-game win streak after taking down Valparaiso on the road on Tuesday. The game was tight throughout with neither team holding a lead larger than nine points. The game featured six lead changes and five ties.
 
Tevin Smith paced the Cleveland State offense with a career-high 24 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field. Smith hit two of his five three-point attempts and finished 8-for-11 from the free throw line. Smith finished with over half of Cleveland State's 18 total free throw attempts. He added seven rebounds including three on the offensive end.
 
Dylan Arnett, Tahj Staveskie and Chase Robinson each finished in double figures with 10 points apiece. Arnett pulled down five rebounds and finished 5-of-9 from the field. Staveskie and Robinson each shot 4-of-7 from the floor with Staveskie adding three assists.
 
Cleveland State played nine total players in the game, with eight of them cracking the score sheet in a balanced offensive effort. The Vikings shot 51 percent from the field and 35 percent from three-point range.
 
The first half was a seesaw battle as both teams held the lead multiple times. The score was tied at 24 apiece with just under seven minutes remaining. Cleveland State would outscore EMU 13-9 over the final 6:52 to take a 37-33 lead into the halftime locker room.
 
Cleveland State's lead grew to its largest margin of nine points early in the second half. A Robinson layup on the fast break forced an Eastern Michigan timeout at the 16:04 mark. Staveskie followed shortly after with an and-one lay-in at the 14:23 mark that made it 49-40 Cleveland State.
 
EMU slowly chipped away at the deficit over the next nine minutes of action. The Eagles eventually fought all the way back and took the lead with just under five minutes to play. EMU's Jalen Terry was fouled shooting a three-pointer and sank all three free throws to give Eastern a 58-57 lead with 4:49 to play.
 
Following an Arnett basket, Terry poured in three more with a three-pointer at the 3:57 mark which gave EMU a 61-59 lead.
 
With the game on the line, the Vikings responded with their largest run of the afternoon, a 9-0 surge over the next two and a half minutes that would ultimately seal the game. Je'Shawn Stevenson started the rally with back-to-back buckets to give Cleveland State the lead. The Vikings then made five straight free throws, three from Smith and two from Robinson, to pull ahead 68-61 with 1:27 remaining.
 
The Eagles got no closer than five points the rest of the way as Cleveland State held on for the victory. The Vikings will next head back on the road for a matchup with Minnesota scheduled for Tuesday at 8:00 p.m.