CSU men win third in a row

The Cleveland State men’s team continues to author one of the best feelgood stories in Division I basketball.

Paced by a team-high 21 points and game-high 11 rebounds from junior forward Tristan Enaruna, the Vikings ran their winning streak to three games Feb. 17 with an 85-68 victory over Wright State at the Wolstein Center.

LATE FEB. 17 CLEVELAND STATE 85, WRIGHT STATE 68

The Vikings upped their records to 17-11 overall and 12-5 in the Horizon League.

That’s good for a threeway tie for second place with Milwaukee (18-9, 125) and Northern Kentucky (17-11, 12-5) behind frontrunning Youngstown State (21-7, 13-4).

That’s heady stuff for a team picked for seventh place in the league’s preseason poll.

The Vikings presumably were in rebuilding mode under first-year coach Daniyal Robinson after former coach Dennis Gates left for Missouri and took two of CSU’s top scorers last season, D’Moi Hodge and Tre Gomillion, with him via the transfer portal.

Instead, CSU is challenging for the regular-season title and will be heard from in the Horizon League postseason tournament that starts on Feb. 28.

“I’m surprised but I’m not surprised,” Enuruna said when asked for his read on CSU’s unexpected surge to the top of the Horizon standings.

“We knew we had talent coming into the season, but we also knew we would have to work hard and prove ourselves,” added the 6-foot-8 Netherlands native who came to CSU via the transfer portal from Iowa State along with Robinson.

For his part, Robinson professed not to be surprised by his team’s showing thus far.

“What I am is excited about where our guys are going and how they are getting better very day while putting us in position to be where we are now,” Robinson said.

The impressive performance against Wright State (16-12, 9-9) was a showcase of CSU’s development as a squad with firepower, depth and cohesion.

In the starting lineup, Enaruna’s output was supported by junior guard Drew Lowder (16 points, four assists, three steals) and junior forward Tae Williams (12 points, nine rebounds).

Senior guard Yahel Hill (Cleveland Heights) came off the bench to score 17 points. Junior forward Jayson Woodrich (Beachwood) added seven points, for rebounds and two steals as CSU finished with a 26-16 advantage in bench scoring.

The Vikings also posted lopsided leads in rebounding (46-28) and points in the paint (50-24).

CSU took a 13-3 lead in the opening five minutes. Wright State closed the gap to 41-36 at halftime. The Vikings buckled down in the second half and built leads as large as 23 points.

“This was a great, allaround team effort, total team effort,” Robinson said. “The starters came out hot and got us an early lead. Then the bench guys came on in the second half and really gave us a lift.”

Senior guard Trey Calvin finished with a game-high 25 points for the Raiders.

CSU swings back into action Feb. 19, hosting Northern Kentucky in the regular-season home finale. Tipoff is 3 p.m.