CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cleveland State (11-21) upended IU Indy (7-25) 101-93 in the First Round of the 2026 Barbasol Horizon League Men's Basketball Tournament on Monday evening. The postseason victory marks the first for head coach
Rob Summers.
Jaidon Lipscomb,
Preist Ryan, and
Chevalier Emery all finished with 23 points in the game. Ryan notched his third double-double after grabbing 12 rebounds. Lipscomb dished out a game-best eight assists.
The Green and White shot 62.7 percent from the field, nailing eleven three-pointers, and were 16-of-23 at the charity stripe. The battle of the boards went to the Vikings, 37-30.
IU Indy jumped out to the early 12-3 advantage before a
Kamari Jones put-back started a 9-0 run, tying the game at 12-12 with 14:32 remaining in the half. The Vikings claimed their first lead of the night, 15-14, on a corner three by
Foster Wonders at the 12:50 mark.
The next six minutes featured a one-point game with eight lead changes until Emery connected from deep to ignite a 12-2 run, stretching the advantage to 34-25 with 5:13 to go in the half.
The Jags got as close as 38-34, but the Green and White closed the half on a 7-2 run to lead 45-36 at halftime. Lipscomb led the way in the half with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
The Vikings outscored IU Indy 10-5 over the opening three minutes, claiming their largest lead of the game, 55-41. The Jags then clawed away at their deficit to get within a possession, 67-64, with 11:36 remaining in regulation.
Cleveland State regrouped by scoring five of the next seven points, upping the advantage to 71-66 with 10:07 showing. IU Indy then matched the run to get the closest since the first half, 73-71, at the 7:54 mark.
The Vikings settled down and came right back with a 7-1 run highlighted by a Wonders three-pointer, pushing the lead back out to 80-72 with 6:35 to go in the contest. The Jags got as close as five with under a minute left, but the Green and White came out on top, 101-93, giving coach Summers his first postseason win.
With the victory, Cleveland State advances to the second round of the 2026 Barbasol Horizon League Tournament to take on regular-season champion and top-seed, Wright State, on Wednesday, March 4, at 7 p.m.
