Cleveland State Men’s Hoops Host Canisius in Home Opener

GAME #2
Bluegrass Showcase
Canisius at Cleveland State
Tuesday, November 15 | 7:00 pm | Cleveland, Ohio
Live Stats | ESPN3 | AM 1420 WHK

GAME PREVIEW:
•     Cleveland State plays its first of four games in the Bluegrass Showcase when the Vikings open their 2016-17 home slate against Canisius on Tuesday (Nov. 15) at 7:00 pm in the Wolstein Center.
•    The Vikings are 0-1 this year after dropping their season opener, 79-74, on Saturday to Kent State as part of the NE Ohio Coaches vs. Cancer Doubleheader in Youngstown.
•    Canisius is also 0-1 this year, falling at Kentucky on Sunday, 93-69, in their first game of the Bluegrass Showcase.
•    The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3, AM 1420 and AM 1440 with Al Pawlowski providing the play-by-play and Pat Vuyancih serving at the analyst.

THE CANISIUS SERIES:
•     The Vikings lead the all-time series with Canisius, 2-1.
•    The two teams have not played since a 66-61 win by the Vikings on the road during the 1986-87 season.
•    CSU is 1-0 all-time vs. Canisius in Cleveland.

GAME 1 REVIEW: KENT STATE 79, CSU 74 (OT):
•     The Vikings dropped the season opener, 79-74, on Saturday to Kent State in Youngstown.
•    Bobby Word led CSU with 17 points, while Jamarcus Hairston had 13 points.
•    Hairston hit a three-pointer with 2.6 seconds to play that sent the game into overtime.
•    Kasheem Thomas had 13 points, five rebounds and nine assists.
•    The Vikings fell behind by as many as 21 points in the first half before rallying to force overtime.

THE OPENING ACT:
•     Tuesday’s game will be the 85th all-time home opener for CSU with the Vikings holding a 42-42 record in home openers.
•    CSU has won eight straight home openers dating to the 2007-08 season.
•    The Vikings are 33-17 (.660) in home openers since 1965.

WORKING OVERTIME:
•     The Vikings played the 85th overtime game in school history on Saturday against Kent State.
•    CSU is now 44-41 all-time in overtime games and has dropped three straight overtime contests.
•    CSU’s last overtime win was a 66-61 win at Green Bay on Feb. 20, 2015.

VIKINGS TABBED 8TH IN PRESEASON POLL:
•     The Vikings were tabbed eighth in the Horizon League Preseason poll, earning 150 points.
•    Valparaiso was chosen as the League favorite with 385 points and 35 first place votes, while Oakland was second with 337 points and two first place votes.
•    Defending tournament champion Green Bay finished third with 309 points and the final two first place votes.
•    UIC was fourth with 217 points and was followed by Wright State (202), Detroit Mercy (195), Northern Kentucky (153), CSU (150), Youngstown State (125) and Milwaukee (72).

EDWARDS EARNS PRESEASON HONOR:
•     Sophomore Rob Edwards was named to the preseason All-Horizon League second team.
•    Edwards averaged 12.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game last year, earning a spot on the Horizon League All-Freshman team.
•    He started 30 games last year, the most for a freshman in CSU history, and also logged a CSU freshman record 994 minutes.
•    A three-time Horizon League Freshman of the Week last year, Edwards posted four 20-point games during his freshman campaign, including a career-high 26 point effort at Detroit.
•    Edwards scored a game-high 21 points in CSU’s exhibition win over Tiffin (Nov. 7) and tallied 12 points vs. Kent State (Nov. 12).

THE LONE SENIOR:
•     Demonte Flannigan is the lone senior on this year’s 17 player roster. He missed Saturday’s season opener due to illness.
•    Last season, Flannigan ranked second on team in scoring (11.4) and rebounding (5.4).
•    He was also 10th in the League in blocked shots (0.9), 13th in field goal percentage (.485), 16th in rebounding, 21st in scoring.
•    Posted five double-doubles as a junior and poured in a career-high 30 points in a win at Youngstown State (Feb. 13).

ALL IN THE FAMILY:
•     Sophomore Jibri Blount is the son of NFL Hall of Famer and former Pittsburgh Steelers great Mel Blount who played 14 seasons for the Black and Gold.
•    Blount had a strong freshman season, averaging 5.7 points and 3.1 rebounds in 29 games, including five starts.
•    He had eight points on Saturday, hitting 4-of-7 from the field.

HE’S A FRESHMAN:
•     Kasheem Thomas started Saturday’s season opener vs. Kent State, becoming the first CSU freshman to start an opener since Walt Walters in 2003-04.
•    Thomas posted 13 points, five rebounds and nine assists in the season opener. He hit 3-of-6 from three-point.

WORD UP:
•     Junior Bobby Word made his CSU debut on Saturday vs. Kent State. He sat out last season after transferring from Oral Robets.
•    Word scored a team-high 17 points against Kent State, hitting four three-pointers and 5-of-6 from the free throw line.
•    As a sophomore at ORU, Word averaged 8.4 points and was tops on the team with 56 three’s.
•    He scored in double figures 14 times, including a career-high 22 points in the second round of the CBI against Loyola (Ill.).

IT’S ALL WRIGHT:
•     Junior Anthony Wright is in his first season with the Vikings after playing two years at Harcum JC.
•    He was a 2016 NJCAA Division I honorable mention All-America honors last year after averaging 17.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 3.3 steals per game, ranking fourth in the nation in steals.
•    Wright set the single game record with 10 steals and broke the single season mark with 107 steals on the year.
•    He finished his career with a Harcum JC record 177 steals.

LEVITT RETURNS:
•     Sophomore Daniel Levitt returns for CSU this year.
•    Levitt missed the final 18 games last year after injuring his knee in the final minutes of the Horizon League opener at Oakland.
•    In 14 games last year, Levitt averaged 4.5 points and shot 35-percent from three-point.

FOR THREE:
•    CSU has hit a three-pointer in a school-record 567 consecutive games.
•    The Vikings have hit at least three three’s in 116 straight games.
•     The last time CSU failed to make a three-pointer was Feb. 21, 1998, when the Vikings were 0-for-8 in a 60-57 win over Detroit.

UP NEXT:
•    CSU continues play in the Bluegrass Showcase with an 8:00 pm ET game at UT-Martin on Friday (Nov. 18).
•    The game will be broadcast live on AM 1420 and AM 1440 with Al Pawlowski providing the play-by-play.