SETTING THE SCENE
Cleveland State concludes the regular season at Robert Morris on Saturday, February 28, at 1 p.m. in Moon Township. The Vikings enter with a 10-20 overall record and a 6-13 mark in the league, while the Colonials are 20-10 overall and 12-7 in the Horizon.
 
ON THE HORIZON
The Vikings will host the Play-In game of the 2026 Barbasol Horizon League Men's Basketball Tournament on Monday, March 2, at 7 p.m. against IU Indy.

A WIN ON SATURDAY WOULD…
End a six-game losing streak…Favor the Green and White in the last ten matchups, 8-2...End the regular season with a win for three straight seasons.

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.
 
GOT THAT DEEP BALL RECORD
Four times this season, Cleveland State tied the three-ball record of 16 before breaking it with 17 three-pointers against Oakland on Feb. 4 in Woodling Gymnasium.
 
The Vikings reached the 16-mark at Purdue Fort Wayne (1/4/26), Green Bay (1/30/26), Youngstown State (2/18/26), and Purdue Fort Wayne (2/22/26).
 
In the record-setting game against OU, the Green and White had just five long balls at the half before exploding with 12 in the second half.
 
LAST GAME OUT
The Vikings dropped their regular-season home finale to Northern Kentucky, 81-70, on Wednesday evening. Preist Ryan collected his second double-double of the year with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting and ten rebounds. Tre Beard contributed 14 points, while Chevalier Emery and Jaidon Lipscomb each scored 12 points. Cleveland State won the battle of the benches 34-13 and in the paint, 38-32.
 
#THROWBACK TO FIRST MEETING
Cleveland State fell 85-68 in the contest on Feb. 12. Lipscomb led the Green and White with 21 points on 5-of-7 shooting, and Emery had 17 points off the bench.
 
Robert Morris led 17-11 when the Vikings erupted with an 11-0 run, with the final eight points coming from Lipscomb to lead for the first time, 22-17, with 9:10 left in the first half.
 
Following five straight points by the Colonials to tie the game, Tre Beard connected from long range to start an 8-0 run capped by a Lipscomb three-pointer, giving the Green and White its largest lead of the half, 30-24, with 5:37 showing.
 
Robert Morris responded with 14 consecutive points to go back in front 38-30 at the 2:21 mark and led 45-33 at halftime. The second half saw Robert Morris outscore the Vikings 40-35 to win the league game, 85-68.
 
ABOUT ROBERT MORRIS
The Colonials have won six straight games and have been tough to beat at home this year with a 12-3 mark. Overall, RMU is 20-10 and 12-7 in league contests. Robert Morris is coming off a 73-62 victory over Detroit in which Ryan Prather scored a career-best 26 points and DeSean Goode picked up a double-double on 14 points and 12 rebounds.
 
Goode leads the league in rebounding with 8.6 per game and field goal percentage at 63.9 percent. Nikolaos Chitikoudis averages a league-best 3.1 offensive boards.
 
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 home game against Wright State.
 
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 next with 13.3 points, followed by Lipscomb with 12.8 points, and Emery rounding out the group at 12.6 points per game.
 
Nessah has pulled down 166 total boards to top the squad, while Ryan has a team-best 48 offensive boards. Beard now tops the team in assists with 84.
 
LETHAL DUO FROM LONG RANGE
Lipscomb and Beard hold the top two three-point field goal percentages in the league. Beard is shooting 42.2 percent from beyond the arc, while Lipscomb is shooting 41.1 percent.
 
In the NCAA, Beard is 24th in three-point percentage, and Lipscomb is 26th.
 
LETTING IT FLY FROM DEEP
Cleveland State has reached double digits in three-pointers in 19 of its 30 games this season. The top five marks this season are 17 against Oakland and then 16 four-times versus Green Bay, Purdue Fort Wayne, Youngstown State, 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 contest. The sophomore ranks 13th in the league in free-throw percentage at 75.0 percent.
 
BREAKING DOWN BEARD
Beard averages 13.3 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 42.2 percent, and three-pointers made at 3.1. The senior is fourth in assist/turnover ratio at 2.7 and is shooting 88.4 percent at the charity stripe.
 
PROTECTING THE PAINT
Pierre-Louis has 32 blocks this season, averaging 1.4 per game, which ranks fourth in the league.
 
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.