White Sulphur Springs, WV-The Cleveland State men's basketball team fell to Kent State on Saturday in the opening game of the River Division of the Greenbrier Tip-Off at historic Colonial Hall by a final score of 102-95. The two teams battled the entire way with each team's largest lead at eight points throughout the game.
Tre Beard led the Vikings with a Division I career-best 27 points in 27 minutes of action. Beard shot 75 percent from the floor and connected on 5-of-9 from three-point range. He finished a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line.
Dayan Nessah continued his early scoring success finishing with 21 points on 6-for-11 shooting. Nessah has scored in double figures in all four games so far and registered his second output of 20 or more points on Saturday. He finished one rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards which led the team.
Josiah Harris scored 10 points. Harris added two rebounds and four assists. The assist total tied with Nessah and Beard for the team lead.
It was a game of runs early as Kent State took a quick 7-2 lead in the first minute of play leading to an early Cleveland State timeout. Out of the timeout the Vikings responded with a 10-0 run to take the lead at 10-7.
Cleveland State's largest lead of the day came at the 12:12 mark of the first half on a pair of
Chevalier Emery free throws that made it 24-16 Vikings.
The two teams went back and forth through the rest of the first half and Kent State held a 44-41 lead at halftime.
Kent State held the lead for the majority of the second half, but the margin was close throughout. Cleveland State fought back to tie the score twice, at the 10:49 mark and then again at the 5:58 mark. Each time, Kent State responded as the Vikings could not score the go-ahead basket to take the lead and swing the momentum.
Cleveland State shot 46 percent from the field for the game and 41 percent from three-point range. The Vikings finished at 80 percent from the free throw line converting 24-of-30 attempts.
The tournament continues tomorrow as Cleveland State will take on Radford in the second and final game of the Greenbrier Tip-Off. The game tips off at 2:30 p.m. with pre-game coverage starting at 2:00 on WTAM 1100 AM.
