SETTING THE SCENE
The Vikings will make the short trip to Youngstown State on Wednesday for a 6:30 p.m. tip-off. Cleveland State enters with a 10-17 overall record and a 6-10 mark in the Horizon League, while the Penguins hold a 13-14 overall record and a 6-10 record in league games.
 
A WIN ON WEDNESDAY WOULD…
End a three-game losing streak…Three straight wins in the Beeghly Center...Complete the season sweep with the last coming in 2023-24.
 
GETTING IT DONE IN THE CLASSROOM
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.
 
NEARING THE END
The Vikings have three games left after the YSU game, with two of those at home. The two remaining home games are Purdue Fort Wayne on Feb. 22 and Northern Kentucky on Feb. 25.
 
RUN N STUN REUNION
Cleveland State will host a reunion dinner and program centered around the 40-year anniversary of the 1985-86 "Run N' Stun" Sweet Sixteen team on February 21 at 5 p.m. The team will be honored on the court during the February 22 game against Fort Wayne.
 
UPCOMING PROMOTIONS
Saturday 2.22 - Senior Day + Youth Day
Wednesday 2.25 - Tim Misny Bobblehead
 
LAST GAME OUT
The Vikings fell to Wright State 102-90 at home on Sunday despite a career-best 30 points by Chevalier Emery on 13-of-18 shooting. Josiah Harris added 14 points on a season-high four three-pointers and Dayan Nessah rounded out the double-digit scoring with 11 points.
 
As a team, Cleveland State shot 34-of-66 (51.5%) from the field and 12-of-28 (42.9%) from the three-point line.

CSU trailed 51-36 at the break before cutting the deficit to six with an 11-0 run out of the gate in the second half. Wright State withstood the run, eventually pushing the lead back out to 17. Cleveland State got as close as nine with 1:49 left after a pair of Emery threes but could not inch closer and fell, 102-90.

#THROWBACK TO FIRST MEETING
Cleveland State pulled out the 80-78 win inside the Wolstein Center on January 17. Nessah went 15-of-21 at the free throw line to finish with a game-best 26 points.
 
Cleveland State's biggest lead in the first half was 28-21 with 2:48 showing when YSU ended the half on a 7-0 run, tying the game at 28-28.

Youngstown State's biggest lead of the day came at the 14:36 mark of the second half when they pushed the lead to 46-37. Cleveland State chipped away at the lead and tied the game 59-59 at the 7:40 mark. CSU took the lead on a Beard free throw at the 5:35 mark and did not relinquish the lead for the rest of the game.

ABOUT THE PENGUINS
Youngstown State is 4-3 since the last meeting with the Green and White and is currently 13-14 overall and 6-10 in league games. The Penguins are 8-5 at home this season. Last game out, YSU fell on the road at Detroit Mercy, 76-70, despite Blackshear scoring a career-high 22 points, while tying the school single-game record, going 9-for-9 from the field.

The Penguins have two players averaging double-digit points with Cris Carroll (17.2) and Bryson Dawkins (13.0). Carroll leads the team in rebounding at 5.1 per game, and Drew King has dished out 80 assists.

OVER/UNDER FOR THE WIN
The Vikings are 7-1 this season when shooting better than 50 percent from the field, with the only loss coming in their last game against Wright State.
 
Cleveland State is 8-4 on the year when scoring more than 80 points.
 
LEADING THE WAY FOR THE VIKINGS
Cleveland State has four double-digit scorers, led by Nessah with 15.5 points per game on 55.3 percent shooting. Beard is close behind with 13.6 points, followed by Emery with 12.6 points, and Lipscomb rounding out the group at 11.8 points per game.

Nessah has pulled down 166 total boards to top the squad and has a team-best 46 offensive boards. Lipscomb is tops in assists with 82.
 
LETHAL DUO FROM LONG RANGE
Lipscomb and Beard hold the top two three-point field goal percentage in the league. Beard is shooting 43.3 percent from beyond the arc, while Lipscomb is shooting 41.5 percent.
 
In the NCAA, Beard is 16th in three-point percentage and Lipscomb is 37th.
 
LETTING IT FLY FROM DEEP
Cleveland State has reached double digits in three-pointers in 17 of its 27 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 eighth in the league, averaging 15.4 points per game, and is seventh in the league with 6.3 rebounds per contests. The sophomore ranks 13th in the league in free throw percentage at 75.0 percent.
 
BREAKING DOWN BEARD
Beard averages 13.5 points per game which is 19th in the league and averages 3.2 assists per game which is 12th in the Horizon League. He is tops in three-point percentage at 43.3 percent and three-pointers made at 3.0. The senior is fourth in assist/turnover ratio at 2.7 and is shooting 87.7 percent at the charity stripe.
 
PROTECTING THE PAINT
Pierre-Louis has 30 blocks this season, averaging 1.3 per game, which ranks sixth 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.
 
COACHES SHOW
You can listen to the weekly Rob Summers radio show at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, on SportsRadio 99.1.
 
UP NEXT
The Vikings host Purdue Fort Wayne for Senior Day on Sunday, Feb. 22 at 2 p.m.