Cleveland State Claims Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship
Box Score
By Jordan Morey
Sports Capital Journalism Program, IUPUI
INDIANAPOLIS -- Standing on the Horizon League logo at the top of the key, in front of a few hundred cardboard cutouts, Cleveland State men’s basketball coach Dennis Gates had his players circle around him after the halftime buzzer echoed throughout the near-empty arena.
Oakland, trailing by 12 points, had already left the floor for its locker room, but the second-year head coach of the Vikings wanted to take a moment with his own men, who were linked shoulder-to-shoulder, before taking an intermission.
Instead of just giving orders, the two-time Horizon League Coach of the Year deferred to his players -- because in the biggest game of the 2020-21 season, it was all about what the group had built together coming to fruition.
“Our guys love each other,” Gates said. “They play for each other, and with each other. They leave whatever they have on the court. They are as connected as any group that I have been a part of.”
Gates’ trust in his players paid off, as top-seeded Cleveland State (19-7) won the Horizon League Tournament for its second time in school history Tuesday by topping No. 3 Oakland (12-18), 80-69, at Indiana Farmers Coliseum.
Junior Torrey Patton was named the Horizon League Tournament MVP, as he averaged a double-double in postseason play. In the final, Patton led all scorers with 23 points, while pulling down 10 rebounds and dishing out four assists in 38 minutes.
“I feel like I played well tonight,” Patton said. “I tried to not stress myself out before the game. I tried to come out and just play my game and get my teammates involved.”
The Vikings will learn their NCAA tournament matchup at 6 p.m. on March 14 during the CBS broadcast of Selection Sunday. First Round games are scheduled to begin on March 19 and 20. Due to COVID-19, the entire tournament will be held exclusively in Central Indiana for 2021.
It will be the third NCAA tournament appearance for the Vikings, as they also qualified in 1986 and 2009.
In their two tournament appearances, CSU has made some noise. In 1986, after winning the Mid-Continent Conference, as a No. 14 seed, the Vikings topped No. 3 Indiana and No. 6 St. Joseph’s before losing to No. 7 Navy in the Sweet Sixteen. The 2009 team, a No. 13 seed that won the Horizon League Tournament, upset No. 4 Wake Forest before falling to No. 12 Arizona.
Through the first five minutes of play of the Horizon League title game, outside of the ball vibrating off the hardwood and the bantering on the court, all that could be heard in the Coliseum were the chants of the players on the Vikings bench as they yelled and clapped in support of their teammates.
In a tightly contested first half, it took more than 15 minutes before either side could establish separation, as Oakland came out firing 3-pointers while CSU worked the ball inside against the Golden Grizzlies’ zone.
Despite the Vikings’ early enthusiasm, the Golden Grizzlies built an early 10-5 lead by the 15:58-mark behind 3-pointers by junior Rashad Williams and freshman Micah Parrish.
The Horizon League’s Defensive Player of the Year, Tre Gomillion, then got going offensively for CSU by scoring six-straight points for the Vikings to put his team up 13-12 with 12:43 on the clock.
With 4:01 left, CSU got a pivotal stop… with a little help from its zealous bench. Williams dribbled to the left corner, where he was met with roar by the Vikings on the sidelines. The ball ended up squirting out of bounds, leading to a critical run in the game.
The Vikings then went on a 10-2 scoring string to close the half -- behind five points by junior D’Moi Hodge -- to lead 40-28 at the break.
“The bench gives us a lot of energy,” Patton said. “They pump us with confidence the whole game. Especially with us not having fans, and having to feed off each other, just having that energy come off the bench gives us a big boost of confidence and makes us play a lot harder.”
At halftime, CSU had shot 19-for-34 (56 percent) and 2-for-9 (22 percent) from beyond the arc while Oakland was 5-for-16 (31 percent) from 3-point and 10-for-29 (34 percent) from the field.
“From the 15-minute mark to the end of the first half is what really destroyed us,” Oakland coach Greg Kampe said. “We didn’t handle that well from a defensive standpoint and a mental standpoint. We mentally kind of panicked, and I’ll take the blame for that.”
The Vikings capitalized on three quick Oakland turnovers out of halftime, going on a 6-0 run to go up 46-30.
Oakland tried to claw back, as junior Zion Young came off the bench and hit two 3-pointers and converted an and-one, but Gomillion answered with six-straight points to keep CSU ahead 57-44 with seven minutes remaining.
CSU never yielded its lead, and put on the finishing touches with an and-one by Patton to make it 76-51 with 90 seconds remaining.
“I thought the second half we battled our tails off and did everything we could, but it was just too big of a deficit to overcome on a night where we couldn’t make a shot,” Kampe said.
Before cutting down the nets and firing the confetti cannons, Cleveland State reenacted halftime -- circling around their coach as a team with arms around shoulders. But this time, it ended with three cheers instead of a walk to the locker room.
“Our guys played tremendous and I’m proud of them,” Gates said. “For them to accomplish this, at this moment in their lives, that’s something nobody can take away from them. They earned it.”
In addition to Patton’s most valuable performance, Gomillion scored 16 points and had 13 rebounds while Hodge totaled 15 points and eight rebounds. CSU shot 36-for-70 (51 percent) from the field and 3-for-15 (20 percent) from deep.
Junior Jalen Moore totaled 22 points for Oakland, making 10 of 11 shots from the free throw line, to go along with seven assists. Williams was the next-highest scorer for the Golden Grizzlies with 15. The team went 21-for-61 (34 percent) shooting including 11-for-38 (29 percent) from beyond the arc.
Tuesday marked the first-ever Horizon League Tournament finals appearance for Oakland, which started its season 0-9 before making a late-season push.
“Our (season) ended a little bit sooner than we would’ve liked it, but our hats are off to Cleveland State,” Kampe said. “They just played better than we did. They played at a championship level tonight and I give them all the credit in the world for that.”