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November 18, 2014Ben Tate is gone and the Browns are just fine
November 18, 2014The Cleveland State Vikings (1-1) notched their first victory of the young season Monday, beating the Division II Tiffin Dragons (1-2) 85-56.
I realized midway through the first half that Vikings versus Dragons is the entire plot of How to Train Your Dragon.1 In many ways, the events of the game mirrored those of the movie.
Just as in the film, the Vikings struggled early. The stakes are lower in basketball than they are in preserving a village from flame-breathing reptile attacks, and the errors manifested themselves in turnovers and missed shots rather than stolen livestock and homes burning to the ground.
Cleveland State’s press worked to perfection early, as the Vikings forced 14 first-half turnovers. Alas, they struggled to turn them into points and coughed it up eight times themselves. The Vikings struggled to penetrate Tiffin’s 2-3 zone defense, but they did conduct a master class in toothless perimeter passing.
The Dragons hung around in the opening stanza. They shot 13 first-half free throws and converted 11. They outrebounded CSU 17-13. They trailed by just six points going into the intermission. For a while there, they believed that they could snatch a win from their Division I opponents.
But just as in the film, the Vikings battled back. They learned about their dragon foes and altered their gameplan accordingly. The Vikings ripped off a little 17-4 run to open the second half and never looked back.
The timid side-to-side passes were replaced by driving attacks off of ball screens, and the ensuing penetration yielded quality shots from near and far. The shots that had clanked off of the iron in the first 20 minutes fell in the second. Cleveland State shot 58.6 percent en route to a 48 point second half. They capitalized on Dragon mistakes, and finished with 25 points off of turnovers.
Playing the role of Stoick the Vast, the hulking Viking leader, was forward Anton Grady. The 6-foot-8 junior was a bull inside, scoring a career-high 26 points on just 13 shots. He pulled down seven rebounds, including four of CSU’s 17 on the offensive end.2
Here are ye highlights:
Other notes:
- Junior guard Kaza (KAY-za) Keane struggled, going 0-8 from the field, but he played solid defense and set teammates up to the tune of four assists. The Illinois State transfer also looks just enough like Delonte West for me to blindly support him forever. He doesn’t actually look like Delonte that much, but I couldn’t shake that thought once it was in my head. I may refer to him as Redz all year long.
- “My Cousin” Vinny Zollo, a junior forward, scored eight points, hitting all three of his shots. After the game, coach Waters suggested that he takes a little too much satisfaction in made baskets and needs to switch his focus to the defensive end quicker.
- There wasn’t a glut of highlight plays, but sophomore Demonte Flannigan produced one when he threw down a two-handed slam in the second half.
- Freshman guard Tim Hasbergen saw his first action of the season, playing 13 minutes. Waters had toyed with the idea of redshirting the Munich, Germany native, but decided to throw him into the pool against Tiffin.
- Cleveland State wore white uniforms. They wore gray in their home exhibition against Malone.
- Phi Mu sorority and Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity were honored as the CSU Greek chapters of the year at halftime. I can only assume that they celebrated responsibly after the game.
CSU’s next game is home against Jacksonville State Wednesday.
1 Comment
Go Vikings!