CLEVELAND – Cleveland State Vikings head coach Gary Waters emphasized following his team’s 66-43 loss to the first place Valparaiso Crusaders on Tuesday night at Quicken Loans Arena that his Vikings will be better offensively the rest of the season.
“This is the last year you will see some junk like this,” Waters said. “This was not good offense at all. Bad offense, we just could not score. I told some of the guys much is given much is required but some people didn’t play to their capabilities.”
The Vikings never lead against the top team in the Horizon League and were tied with the Crusaders at 3-3. It was all Valparaiso the rest of the way.
Cleveland State shot just 25 percent from the field in the field in the first half and were as low as 16 percent shooting during a 0-14 stretch that lasted over seven minutes of the half. Add in some missed free throws and the Vikings trailed 29-17 at halftime.
“I thought we had the opportunities,” Waters said. “Actually, in the first half I thought we played good enough defense to be in the game and to play this team pretty well. Eventually when you don’t hit any shots it’s going to be hard to beat any team.”
The Vikings finished the half shooting seven of 28 from the field. Two of their seven field goal makes were from three point territory. The Vikings made only one of their five free throws attempts in the first half.
The second half didn’t go much better. The struggles shooting the basketball on the offensive end lead to struggles on the defensive end. Valparaiso’s size up front was also too much for the Vikings too handle as the game went on. The Crusaders outscored the Vikings 37-26 in the second half and built a lead as big as 28 points in the final moments of the game.
Alec Peters lead all scorers with a game high 15 points for the Crusaders. Peters finished with a double double by pulling down ten rebounds. Guard Tevonn Walker was the only other Crusader to finish in double figures in scoring with 13 points.
Cleveland State had only one player finish in double figures in scoring. Rob Edwards finished with a team high eleven points. Derek Sloan, the native of Moreland Hills and graduate of Saint Ignatius High School had seven points in his first start in a Vikings uniform.
It was a very disappointing night for Richmond Heights native and former Villa Angela Saint Joseph forward Demonte Flannigan. After scoring 30 points in the Vikings last game against Youngstown State, Flannigan was just three of ten shooting for only six points.
“I was disappointed in the performance Demote had,” Waters said. “It’s not the points, it’s how he didn’t attack the other team. He let that big guy take him out of the game and just shoot jump shots. That’s what they want you to do.”
The Vikings finished at 28 percent shooting for the game. Cleveland State made just 14 made field goals on the night on 49 attempts. The 43 points is a season low. Nelson Maxwell’s three pointer with one second remaining in the game prevented the Vikings from averaging exactly one point per minute for the game.
The Vikings fall to 8-19 on the season and 3-11 in the Horizon League. The Vikings make their annual two game trip t
The Vikings played without forward Vinny Zollo who served the second game of his three game suspension for a violation of team rules. Freshman forward Jibri Blount missed the game with a high ankle sprain.
The Vikings next home game is Thursday, February 25 against Northern Kentucky at the Wolstein Center. Cleveland State’s final home game at Quicken Loans Arena is Saturday February 27th against Wright State.
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