Cleveland, OH-The Cleveland State men's basketball team came from behind Tuesday night to defeat NJIT in the opening game of the Thanksgiving Throwback Tournament hosted by Cleveland State at Wooding Gymnasium. The Vikings prevailed 56-53 thanks to a late basket from Tevin Smith and timely shooting at the free throw line. The Vikings improve to 4-4 on the season while the Highlanders fall to 0-7.
 
The Vikings won despite not making a three-point field goal in the contest, finishing 0-13 from long range. This is the second time in the Coach Robinson era that the Vikings have found a way to win despite not making a three-point field goal, with the first one coming at Canisius in 2022, Robinson's first career head coaching victory.
 
Cleveland State dominated in the paint, scoring 36 points to NJIT's 20. The Vikings finished 16-24 from the free throw line and shot 38 percent from the field, while holding NJIT to 34 percent.
 
Smith finished with 13 points, two assists and two steals, including the game-winning bucket. Cole Franklin was the second Viking in double figures with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor. All but one of the 11 CSU players to see the floor scored in the game.
 
Cleveland State got off to a fast start scoring eight of the game's first ten points to take a six-point lead four minutes into the game. NJIT called a timeout at the 16:04 mark in an attempt to stop the early CSU run. The Vikings continued to widen the lead as a Je'Shawn Stevenson layup made it 16-7 Vikings with 11:18 to go in the first half.
 
NJIT slowly clawed back and eventually erased the largest lead the Vikings would have all night. The Highlanders outscored the Vikings 14-5 over the next eight minutes to work back to a tie at 21-21 with 3:24 remaining in the half. Cleveland State closed the half with a 6-2 scoring advantage to take a 27-23 lead into the halftime break.
 
The second half went back and forth with neither team holding more than a one-possession lead until the five-minute mark. The Highlanders appeared to have the Vikings on the ropes late in the game, taking their largest lead of the night with 4:47 to play. A Tariq Francis jumper made it 51-45 NJIT headed down the stretch.
 
Cleveland State fought back within one possession and trimmed the deficit to one on a Franklin layup which capped a 5-0 run and made it 51-50 NJIT with 1:38 to play. Francis hit a mid-range jump shot on the next possession to make it 53-50 with 1:18 to go.
 
Smith took over on the next two possessions, drawing a foul and converting two free throws to cut the deficit back to one with 1:01 to go. Following a defensive stop, Smith converted a driving layup off an inbounds pass with 19 seconds remaining which put the Vikings in front 54-53.
 
NJIT drove the length of the floor and missed a three-point attempt on the other end and Franklin secured the rebound and was fouled. He calmly sank two free throws with three seconds remaining to put Cleveland State ahead 56-53. Francis had one more look on the ensuing inbounds pass, his long three-point attempt at the buzzer caromed off the backboard and the rim but fell off, allowing the Vikings to hold on for the three-point victory.
 
The tournament continues tomorrow as NJIT returns for a neutral site contest against Morehead State beginning at 4:00 p.m. Cleveland State returns to action to play Morehead State in the final game of the week on Friday at 3:00 p.m. Admission to all games of the tournament is free of charge for all spectators.