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Cleveland State Basketball: Evaluating Vikings heading into Houston matchup

By Ryan Kay

Cleveland State bench players wear masks during the second half of Sunday's NCAA Division I basketball game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Value City Arena in Columbus, Oh. on December 13, 2020. Ohio State won the game 67-61.Osu Mens Bbk 12 13
Cleveland State bench players wear masks during the second half of Sunday's NCAA Division I basketball game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Value City Arena in Columbus, Oh. on December 13, 2020. Ohio State won the game 67-61.Osu Mens Bbk 12 13 /
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Cleveland State Basketball Ncaa Basketball Cleveland State At Ohio State
Cleveland State Basketball Ncaa Basketball Cleveland State At Ohio State /

Overview of Cleveland State

Conference: The Horizon League

Head Coach: Dennis Gates (Second season at Cleveland State)

Nickname: Vikings

Record: Overall: 19-7 Conference: 16-4

Historical meeting vs. Houston: This is the first meeting between the two schools

NCAA Bid: They earned an automatic bid by winning the Horizon League tournament

Potential Starting lineup

Junior guard Tre Gomillion

Junior guard D’Moi Hodge

Senior guard Craig Beaudion

Senior forward Torrey Patton

Junior center Deante Johnson Jr.

Key players coming off the bench

Senior forward Algevon Eichelberger

Freshmen forward Jayson Woodrich

Freshmen guard Alec Oglesby

Junior forward Chris Greene

Junior guard Yahel Hill

Head coach Dennis Gates has done an amazing job in his two years at the helm of the Viking program. Gates was named the Horizon League coach of the year for the second straight season. To put it in perspective, before the start of this season, Cleveland State previously had five continuous 20-loss seasons. He has also done a great job recruiting and developing and showing progress with his players as well.

Cleveland State is led by Patton, who leads the team in scoring with 14.9 points per game, and who was named to the All-Horizon first team. Patton put up 30 points against IPFW in the conference quarterfinals game and he scored a season-high 33 points against Detroit Merch in regular-season play. Patton also leads the team in rebounding as he is averaging eight rebounds per game.

The Vikings defense is led by Gomillion was the Horizon defensive player of the year. He had three steals in the conference tournament championship game to go along with his 13 rebounds and 16 points. His overall stats may not show it but his individual defense, hustle, and effort on the court is the main reason he is regarded as the best defensive player in the conference.

He also can score especially of late as he averaged 18 points per game in his last four games and he is the second-leading scorer on the team. However, they are not the only two players for the Vikings who have helped the team to much success this season.

Johnson anchors the interior paint for the Vikings defense and he leads the team in most block shots per game with 31 block shots on the season. He had five block shots against Toledo and Detroit Mercy this season and he was named to the Horizon League’s all-defensive team as well.

Hodge leads Cleveland State in steals per game with 1.7 and he had an amazing six-game where he averaged 3.5 steals per game with having five steals against both IPFW and IUPU during those stretch of games. He also can score as well as he is the third-leading scorer for the Vikings he had an outstanding game earlier this season against IPFW when he scored 46 points and made 10 3-pointers in a Vikings victory.

That was not the only time he was successful behind the three-point arch as he made four three-pointers in games against Oakland and Milwaukee. Hodge leads the team with 38 made three-pointers but his three-point shooting percentage is 29.2. Cleveland goes to their bench more often than other teams but can the Vikings upset No. 2 seed Houston?