Cleveland State On Horizon In Horizon

Cleveland State had the look of someone who had been starving himself for Thanksgiving turkey for three days before the big meal. That’s how hungry the Vikings were for a victory over Butler.

The Bulldogs had pretty much turned the Vikings into their personal chew toy in recent years, taking bites out of their hides whenever they felt like it, pretty much embarrassing State twice a year like clockwork. Well, the Vikings had had enough of that and in their recent visit to Hinkle Fieldhouse they wanted to set the relationship on a new course.

For once, it was not mission impossible, and Tom Cruise would have accepted the assignment. Cleveland State, the NCAA tournament’s most glaring overlooked team last season, wanted to demonstrate that it can be the new boss in the Horizon League and while it was no easy task, the Vikings emerged from Indianapolis with a 76-69 victory.

As the conference season heats up, Cleveland State is playing well enough to threaten the Cleveland Cavaliers, that other basketball team in the city located on the shore of Lake Erie that once employed LeBron James. The Vikings are 15-4 and in first place, hoping to make their NCAA selection automatic in 2012.

Actually, the way the Vikings played versus Butler they more resembled the Cleveland Browns. Cleveland State committed 29 fouls and only the generosity of the Bulldogs missing 17 free throws, prevented Butler from winning again. Subtlety does not appear to be in Cleveland State’s makeup. Defeating Butler, especially on the road, was a milestone for the Vikings. Butler advanced to the NCAA title game two years in a row and the 2000s have been very, very good to the Bulldogs. Butler has long treated Cleveland State rudely, with a five-game winning streak head-to-head. Even worse, Butler had won nine of the last 10 meetings.

The Bulldogs may have 10 wins this season, but they are definitely in rebuilding mode compared to the last two seasons when they perked up the entire college basketball world with their exploits. Cleveland State was one of the league teams steamrolled. After being ignored for the NCAAs with a 27-9 record last year, the Vikings are playing with a bit of a chip on their shoulder this year and who better to take frustations out on than Butler?

That might explain Cleveland State’s boggling 20-4 start. There were 8,000 stunned and groaning fans in Hinkle as forward Tim Kamczyc and guard Tremon Harmon pushed the Bulldogs around. An effective full-court press disrupted Butler’s ballhandling and it seemed apparent that a blow-out was at hand. But Butler doesn’t panic and Butler is resilient. The Bulldogs came all of the way back to take a one-point lead in the second half and threaten in the final minutes.

Maybe another year the Bulldogs would have swept pass and escaped with the win. Maybe another year Cleveland State would have sagged under the onslaught. But with guard Jeremy Montgomery hitting big shot after big shot (18 points), the Vikings willed themselves to this important win.

“We needed an act of God to help us in this house,” said Cleveland State coach Gary Waters. “Butler never gave up. They keep coming at you.”

The same could be said for Cleveland State, an attitude Waters has worked hard to foster. When they press, the Vikings can screw up opponents’ offenses. They have good balance with outside shooters and potential inside with 6-foot-9, 270-pound Aaron Pogue, whose sculpted body looks like one of those touting a health product on the back of comic books.

But there is nothing gentle about the Vikings and keeping the foul calls under control may be critical. Waters thought things had gotten out of hand at one point with too many whistles on his club and he took a technical for the team.

“It was too lopsided,” Waters said. “I had to tell them (the refs).”

Butler, (10-9) is not scared of any opponent, but it’s obvious the Bulldogs cannot take wins for granted over Cleveland State at this point.

“They’ve grown up,” said Butler coach Brad Stevens. “They’re experience heavy.”

Cleveland State relies on four seniors and one junior and those guys have been around the block, around the league and around the Midwest, so there isn’t much they haven’t seen. Waters is mixing in some freshmen who are quickly gaining that important experience, too. Montgomery carried the Vikings in the second half, hitting several timely jumpers, but Kamczyc sprinkled his 17 points throughout.

The value of freshmen Anton Grady, Marlin Mason and Charles Lee showed itself, too, with so many other guys in foul trouble. Guard D’Aundray Brown, normally one of Cleveland State’s top players, was neutralized completely by fouls. After watching the early comfortable lead evaporate Cleveland State could have simply waved as Butler passed like a speeding train. Instead, the Vikings hunkered down and turned their resolve up a notch.

Kamczyc shrugged off the foul calls, the run of missed shots and the feeling that everything that was going right earlier was going wrong later.

“They’re gonna happen in every game,” he said of such stretches. “Any time you can go on the road and get a victory, it’s a big thing, especially in this place. You do the things you can control.”

This time Cleveland State controlled the outcome. And there should be many more winter nights this season when the Vikings do the same.