Cleveland State and Oakland (Michigan) competed for the Horizon League Championship on Tuesday evening. Neither team typically makes it this far for their conference, but tonight was special on both ends. Despite the odds, this game was coming down to which team had more heart and concentration. At the end of the night, Cleveland State came out on top and celebrated in sweet victory.
Before the game, most spectators predicted Cleveland State to destroy the opposing team. In fact, they had a 64% winning probability, which made the nightmare worse for Oakland. This was mainly due to the huge difference in team records. Oakland has had an uneasy season so far, their wins and losses containing quite a gap. Meanwhile, Cleveland State was soaring above all other conference teams, keeping the odds in their favor.
However, that was not exactly the case when the match on the court began. For most of the first half, Oakland held their own with Cleveland State. Each time there was a gap, it decreased little by little again, having fans on the edge of their seats. There were also multiple times where Oakland regained a lead on Cleveland State. These efforts, however, would not be enough near the end of the half. As the clock winded down the remaining minutes, Oakland lost their strive and fell behind 28-40.
From there on, things only seemingly got worse for Oakland and much better for Cleveland State. Baskets were being made left and right from every angle on Cleveland States’ end. This left Oakland scrambling to play catch up. While they found a bit of an extra push nearing the end, it was not enough. Defensively, Cleveland State was all over their playbook and easily picked off mistakes and took advantage of them. That would be the end of the match, but Oakland would not be discouraged seeing how far they’ve come.
On Cleveland’s side, starting Guard Torrey Patton was on fire. He gained 23 points to lead his team above their opponents and earned 10 rebounds and 4 assists. Tre Gomillion added an additional 16 points with 13 rebounds and 3 assists. Both of these players earned themselves 38 minutes of the court.
Over on Oakland’s side, Jalen Moore collected 22 points along with 4 rebounds and 7 assists. He never stepped foot off the court to go along with those stats, playing all 40 minutes of the game. His hard work alone could not carry his team through. The rest of his teammates struggled to come anywhere near his stats, not backing his efforts and mentality.
Victories are always bittersweet as you look back on the hard work you have done, and Cleveland States was no exception. It was by far a long and bumpy road to get where they ended up to hoist the trophy. Last Tuesday, they had gone into triple overtime against Purdue Fort-Waye. Not a week later, they faced Milwaukee in the semifinals on Monday, March 8th. Playing back-to-back games was quite impressive, and in the end, clearly was worth all the sacrifices.
Now, Cleveland State has earned its 3rd Horizon League title in school history. The last time this was accomplished was in 2009.
Up Next
No known events are scheduled at this time for either team.
