SETTING THE SCENE
The Vikings return home to Wolstein Center for back-to-back games starting with Robert Morris on Thursday at 7 p.m. Cleveland State is 10-15 overall and 6-8 in Horizon League games, while the Colonials are 16-10 overall and 8-7 in league contests.

A WIN ON THURSDAY WOULD…
Make it three straight wins at home…Claim six of its last seven league games…Make it 9-1 in the last ten matchups with the Colonials.
 
ACADEMIC NIGHT
The Cleveland State men's basketball team had the highest GPA in the department for men's sports with a 3.62 GPA. Ten players were named to the Dean's List while the entire team had a GPA above 3.00.
 
LAST GAME OUT
The Vikings had their season-best five-game winning streak come to an end at IU Indy on Saturday, 82-74. Dayan Nessah led the way with 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting and was 6-of-8 from the free-throw line. Jaidon Lipscomb added 14 points, and Josiah Harris nearly had a double-double with ten points and nine rebounds off the bench.
 
#THROWBACK TO LAST SEASON
These two teams split last year's meeting, with each winning on the road. The Green and White claimed the first victory, 80-69, in January before falling in February, 68-59.
 
ABOUT THE COLONIALS
Robert Morris has won two straight games and is 16-10 overall and 8-7 in Horizon League games. RMU swept the weekly awards this past week with DeSean Goode as Player of the Week and Darius Livingston as Freshman of the Week.
 
Three Colonials average double-digit points, led by Goode with 15.3 points and Ryan Prather Jr. just behind with 15.2 points. Nikolaos Chitikoudis rounds out the group with 10.8 points per game. Goode is the top rebounder with 8.8 per game, and Albert Bargas has dished out 109 assists.
 
NEARING THE END
Cleveland State has five games left after facing Robert Morris, with three of those at home. Following the game at home on Sunday, the Green and White will have back-to-back home contests on February 22 against Purdue Fort Wayne and February 25 against Northern Kentucky.
 
OVER/UNDER FOR THE WIN
The Vikings are 7-0 this season when shooting better than 50 percent from the field.
 
Cleveland State is 8-3 on the year when scoring more than 80 points.
 
LEADING THE WAY FOR THE VIKINGS
Cleveland State has four double-digit scorers, led by Dayan Nessah with 16.0 points per game on 55.2 percent shooting. Tre Beard is close behind with 14.1 points, followed by Chevalier Emery at 11.7 points, and Jaidon Lipscomb with 11.6 points per game.
 
Nessah has pulled down 162 total boards to top the squad and has a team-best 44 offensive boards. Lipscomb is tops in assists with 75.
 
LETHAL DUO FROM LONG RANGE
Jaidon Lipscomb and Tre Beard are top three in three-point field goal percentage. Beard is shooting 45.2 percent from beyond the arc while Lipscomb is third at 42.8 percent from beyond the arc.
 
In the NCAA, Beard is 11th in three-point percentage and Lipscomb is 31st.
 
LETTING IT FLY FROM DEEP
Cleveland State has reached double digits in three-pointers in 16 of its 25 games this season. The top three marks this season are 17 against Oakland and 16 twice on the road at Green Bay and Purdue Fort Wayne.
 
NESSAH NAILING IT
Nessah is seventh in the league, averaging 15.6 points per game, and is fifth in the league with 6.6 rebounds per contest. The sophomore ranks 15th in the league in free throw percentage at 75.2 percent.
 
BREAKING DOWN BEARD
Beard averages 13.8 points per game which is 16th in the league and averages 3.1 assists per game which is 15th in the Horizon League. He is second in free throw percentage at 87.7 percent, and tops in three-point percentage at 45.2 percent.
 
PROTECTING THE PAINT
Pierre-Louis has 29 blocks this season, averaging 1.4 per game, which ranks fourth in the league.
 
GOT THAT DEEP BALL RECORD
Twice this season, Cleveland State has tied the three-ball record of 16 before breaking it with 17 made three-pointers against Oakland on Feb. 4 in Woodling Gymnasium.
 
The Vikings tied the mark at Purdue Fort Wayne (1/4/26) and at Green Bay (1/30/26). On Wednesday, the Green and White had just five long balls at the half before exploding with 12 in the second half.
 
TWICE IS NICE
Nessah has twice been named the Horizon League Player of the Week and is the only Viking to receive this honor. He claimed the first after picking up a double-double at Wright State with 31 points and 10 rebounds, to go along with five assists.
 
The following week, he repeated as the award winner after averaging 18.5 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists during the Wisconsin trip.
 
WISCONSIN SWEEP
Cleveland State has been making the trip to Wisconsin for a pair of games for nearly 30 years, completing the sweep for just the fourth time, with the last coming under Coach Gates in 2021-22.
 
UPCOMING REGIONAL GAMES
Cleveland State has two more games remaining on Rock Entertainment Sports Network, a joint venture between Rock Entertainment Group and Gray Media.
 
2/15/26 | 2 p.m. | vs. Wright State
2/25/26 | 7 p.m. | vs. Northern Kentucky
 
COACHES SHOW
You can listen to the weekly Rob Summers radio show at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, on SportsRadio 99.1.
 
UP NEXT
Cleveland State is back home on Sunday, Feb. 15 against first-place Wright State with a tip time of 2 p.m.