Moon Township, PA-The Cleveland State men's basketball team continued its stellar play with an 80-69 road victory over Robert Morris on Wednesday night. The Vikings have won seven consecutive games and five straight in league play. Cleveland State improves to 11-6 overall and 5-1 in the Horizon League, tied for first in the league standings. Robert Morris is 10-7 and 2-4.
The Vikings turned a one-point deficit at halftime into a double-digit victory thanks to suffocating defense in the second half coupled with strong shooting from the field. CSU shot 51 percent from the floor in the second half and 44 percent from three-point range.
Dylan Arnett led a group of five Vikings in double figures with 16 points. Arnett scored in double figures for the fourth straight game finishing 6-of-10 from the field and converting 4-of-6 from the free throw line. He added seven rebounds and one assist despite playing just 17 minutes due to foul trouble.
Je'Shawn Stevenson continued his strong play with 14 points off the bench. Stevenson has scored in double figures in three of the last four games. He finished 5-of-11 from the field and shot 50 percent from three-point range in the game. He tallied three rebounds and three assists.
Tahj Staveskie finished with 13 points including 3-of-5 from three-point range. Staveskie's three triples led the team and this marks the fourth straight game that he has finished with three or more three-pointers.
Tevin Smith and
Chase Robinson each finished with 11 points. Smith recorded his second career double-double as he pulled down 10 rebounds. He led the team with five assists and finished an efficient 5-of-9 from the floor. Robinson was 3-for-7 from the floor and tallied two rebounds and two assists.
The host Colonials got off to a good start scoring the first two baskets of the game to take a 4-0 lead less than a minute into the game. Cleveland State worked back to a 7-7 tie just over three minutes into the game and fought through early foul trouble that sent two starters to the bench early in the first half.
Momentum swung back and forth throughout the first half as the lead changed hands ten times along with six ties. Cleveland State held the lead for a little over seven minutes with RMU holding the lead for a little over nine minutes. RMU's Kam Woods hit a three-pointer at the first half buzzer which ultimately put the Colonials ahead by a point, 38-37, headed into the halftime break.
Cleveland State owned the second half as the Vikings took control on both ends of the floor. Staveskie started the half with a three-pointer on the opening possession to give the Vikings the lead back.
An RMU fast-break dunk at the 12:37 mark made it a three-point game with Cleveland State leading 48-45. It was at that point that the Vikings stepped on the gas pedal and seized control of the game. The Vikings went on a 14-0 run over the next 4:50 of action to take a 17-point lead with 7:47 remaining.
Reece Robinson started the rally with a layup just over 20 seconds later, and
Chase Robinson followed soon after scoring on back-to-back possessions to push the lead to double digits for the first time. Staveskie punctuated the run with a three-pointer that pushed the lead to 17.
The Viking lead grew as large as 20 with 6:35 to play. RMU mounted a late charge connecting on four three-point shots in the final five and a half minutes, but the Colonials got no closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Cleveland State remains on the road as the Vikings travel to Youngstown State on Saturday for a 2:00 p.m. tip-off at YSU's Beeghly Center. The Penguins defeated Northern Kentucky on Wednesday night and improved to 6-1 in league play, setting up a matchup pitting the top two teams in the Horizon League standings on Saturday.
