by CLEVELAND, Ohio– It’s the second consecutive year the Vikings are heading to Indianapolis.
No. 1 seed Cleveland State was able to use a series of runs Thursday night to stay ahead and even end the game on an 8-0 run to defeat No. 10 Robert Morris 83-70 in the conference tournament quarterfinal final.
“I thought that was as loud as I’ve heard the Wolstein in a long time,” Cleveland State head coach Dennis Gates said following the win.
Torrey Patton led the way with 25 points and six rebounds. D’Moi Hodge added 15 points along with 13 from Tre Gomillion. Broc Finstuen even added 10 points off the bench and with the win, the Vikings will now play in the Horizon League semifinal game on March 7 in Indianapolis against Wright State.
With Cleveland State leading 9-6 just under 14 minutes left in the first half there were scoreboard malfunctions, causing a 25-minute delay in action.
With the game getting stopped more than five times in the first half, it was difficult at times for each team to find a consistent flow early on, but head coach Dennis Gates credits his seniors and bench players for staying locked in throughout the first half troubles.
“I think it’s not what I say, it’s what they say to each other,” Gates said about the stoppages in the first half. “I think they were the first ones before I even got a word out to say certain things.”
It was just guys like Ben Sternberg, Aria Eskandari and those guys just kept us pumped, Chris Greene during those stoppages,” Tre Gomillion added. “It’s easy to sit there and get cold…all shout out to them.”
The Vikings started to make a run. After leading 19-14 with 10:30 left in the first half, they were able to open the game up a little bit as they went on a 13-7 run in the next four minutes. After Tre Gomillion found Deante Johnson for an alley-op, Horizon League defensive player of the year D’Moi Hodge followed up with a pull-up 3-pointer to give the Vikings their largest lead of the first half–31-19.
From there, the Colonials were able to end the first half strong. Kam Farris got a mid-range jump shot to fall down as time expired and Robert Morris trailed by just six, 36-30 at the break.
The Vikings were able to get their outside shots to start falling to open up the second half. After hitting four 3-pointers in the first five minutes of the half, they were able to push their lead back up to double digits.
A Torrey Patton 3-pointer put the Vikings ahead 49-37 with 15 minutes left in the game. Throughout the night, the Vikings displayed why they’re one of the best defensive teams in the Horizon League.
A slew of charges coupled with nine team steals led to the Vikings responding on the other end, opening up their lead as the second half winded down. Tre Gomillion and Torrey Patton had effective nights scoring the ball along with Broc Finstuen providing a spark off the bench all night.
“Our bench did a great job, the energy they provided,” Gates said. “Broc Finstuen, the minutes that he gave to the game early in the first half or even in the second half. I just thought those guys were patient…We’re only as good as our last game but more importantly, we got a game ahead of us in Indianapolis that these guys are going to be prepared for.”
Robert Morris senior forward Kahliel Spear got a layup to go and the Colonials were able to get within nine, 71-62 with under four minutes left.
But as they did often, Gates’ team was able to knock down big-time shots when it mattered, starting with Finstuen. He rattled off four straight points to give Cleveland State a 75-64 lead with under two minutes left.
Free throws have been an issue for the Vikings throughout the regular season, but it’s what sealed the win down the stretch Thursday night.
“They shot more (free throws) but our percentage was at a rate I thought was tremendous,” Gates said. “Shooting 86 percent from the free-throw line is a great stat to have.”
With Cleveland State supporting 13 seniors this year, winning their final home game in front of the largest crowd all season was special to players like Torrey Patton.
“It means a lot to have all the fans out there and seeing so many people there supporting us,” Patton said. “Just knowing that we’ve been here before. We know what it takes to get the job done in Indianapolis. We just want to be those leaders on the court to lead the younger guys and just to get this job done.”
