Cleveland State continues to hold Horizon League first-place standing after victories against Green Bay – The Cauldron

CSU men’s basketball reigns victorious in two-game series

By: Maddie Saines

Coach Gates calls a timeout towards the end of the second half against Green-Bay, By: Maddie Saines

Cleveland State University men’s basketball, the Horizon League’s top competitor, took on the University of Wisconsin- Green Bay this weekend at the Wolstein Center, winning 74-68 in their first match-up and 73-65 in the second. 

In the first game of the weekend series, the 12-2 Vikings had a slow start. Green Bay won the tip-off, and CSU initially struggled to get control of the ball. Green Bay, who is currently 5-9 led the Vikings by a small margin for a majority of the half. 

Going into halftime CSU led Green Bay by a one-point margin, 39-38, after junior Tre Gomillion mustered up a three-point shot from his knees with one second to go in the half. 

The Vikings started the second half strong, leading Green Bay for the entire half. Gomillion, senior Craig Beaudion, junior Deante Johnson and senior Torrey Patton helped the Vikings maintain their lead and were among the top scorers in the Green Bay match-up. Freshman Alec Olgesby also put up two three-pointers. 

Overall, Gomillion and Johnson led the Vikings in rebounds. Jonhson, Gomllion, Beaudion and junior D’Moi Hodge were all amongst the top scorers in the first game of the Green Bay series  

After the first game in a post-game press conference, CSU’s Head Coach Gates said the changes the Vikings made toward the end of the first half helped the team get control of the game for the second half.

“Whenever you’re facing a team that averages 18 assists per game, you’re going to be caught in situations where you are off your mark.” Gates continued, “I thought our adjustment toward the end of the half when we threw up a play for D’Moi, he made that three and he got a block shot that led to Tre Gomillion’s three-point basket… I thought that gave us some momentum going into the second half.”

CSU came in hot in the second game against Green Bay, keeping a lead for the duration of the first half. The Vikings Gomillion had another impressive game as the lead scorer, putting up 10 points in the first half, two of which he dunked. CSU made some changes from the first game against Green-Bay, playing aggressive defense. The Vikings led at the half, 41-23.

The Vikings kept their lead well into the second half of the match-up. Senior Algevon Eichelberger, Gomillion, and Beudion were amongst the leading scorers in this game, helping the Vikings to victory with a final score of 73-65 over Green Bay.

The Vikings’ next contest will be against the Oakland University Golden Grizzlies on Feb. 5 and 6 in Rochester Hills, Michigan. Fans can live stream the game from home by accessing the link here.