by The red-hot Cleveland State Vikings defeated the visiting Northern Kentucky Norse 76-58 to run their winning streak out to 9 straight games while improving their overall record to 13-6 while the Norse fall to 8-9 on the season. This was also the 7th straight win in the Horizon league for the Vikings. They will go for 10 in a row overall this Saturday at IU Indy before returning home next Wednesday to host the Detroit Mercy.
The Vikings were led in scoring by Tahj Staveski with 20 while Chase Robinson cashed in with 13 and Dylan Arnett had 11. For the Norse, they were led by Sam Vinson with 17 while Trey Robinson put in 16.
Both teams were about even on the boards at 35-31 in favor of Cleveland State. The game changing stat was the three point shooting for the Vikings that capped off at 35.8 next to only 27.8 for the Norse. Perhaps the stat that jumps out the most and tells the story however is the bench scoring once again for the Vikings as they outscored the Norse 26-6. The Vikings controlled the game as they led for 32 of the 40 minutes.
The Norse held a slim 15-13 lead about halfway through the first as the game was a tight one possession battle at the start. The game remained close as 5 minutes later, it was still just a two points game, the only difference was this time the Vikings led 23-21 with 5:25 left to play in the first. A three ball by Isaac Abidde gave them their biggest lead at 35-28 with 1:31 left to play. The score remained that way as we hit the halftime break.
The Norse made a slight push to start the second half, but five minutes into it could only cut into the lead by 2 as it stood 42-34 Vikings with 15:28 to play. A Robinson bucket with 11:20 to play earned the Vikings their biggest lead of the game at 54-41 as they continue to have things well under control. The Norse would go on a few runs here and there but never get it close enough to make it scary as the Vikings hung on for the 76-58 win.
