Cleveland State’s had better weekends.
Friday morning, the Vikings were 15-1 overall and at 4-0, atop the Horizon League standings. By Sunday night, they’d dropped two straight games and were fifth – behind Wright State, Detroit, Butler and Valpo.
Hard to say which loss hurt more: the 23-point trouncing by Butler on Friday or the 64-58 setback to Valpo on Sunday, in which leading scorer Norris Cole finished with just 10 points (half his season average) and had six turnovers.
“I had to leave him out there when nobody is scoring, and others are in foul trouble,” coach Gary Waters told the Cleveland Plain-Dealer. “I have to leave him on the floor.”
If there’s a silver lining, it’s that Cleveland State has a full week to prepare for a game at Youngstown State this Saturday. The Penguins are the Horizon’s worst team.
Then again, they only lost to Butler by five on Sunday. Another road trip could turn into the longest two weeks of Cleveland State’s season.
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