CLEVELAND – Cleveland State guard Rob Edwards scored 10 of his team-high 17 points in the second half and the host Vikings shot 51.7 percent from the field in the game’s second stanza en route to a 67-64 win over Canisius Tuesday night in the Wolstein Center. The win improves Cleveland State to 1-1 on the year, while the Golden Griffins slipped to 0-2 with the loss.
Canisius junior forward Jermaine Crumpton scored a game-high 21 points in the loss to lead three Griffs in double-figures. Junior Kassius Robertson scored 13 points, and senior forward Phil Valenti posted 10 points while matching a career-high with six assists. Senior Kiefer Douse was credited with a career-high 10 rebounds in the loss, as the Blue and Gold opened the season 0-2 for the first time since 2008-09.
Canisius led 36-31 at halftime, but Cleveland State ripped off a 9-4 run in the first 2:42 of the second half to knot the game at 40-40. The game went back-and-forth for the next seven-plus minutes before the Vikings got five-straight points from Kasheem Thomas in the span of 39 seconds to take a 56-53 lead with 9:26 left on the clock. Thomas gave Cleveland State the lead for good at the 9:26 mark after he drilled a 3-pointer from the left wing.
Canisius cut Cleveland State’s lead to one at 65-64 with 1:48 showing on the clock after Crumpton knocked down his third 3-pointer of the night from the top of the key. Out of a late timeout, Cleveland State missed two shots before guard Bobby Word tipped in an offensive rebound to give the Vikings a 67-64 lead with 18 ticks left in regulation time. Canisius had a chance to tie the game with time winding down, but Robertson’s 3-point attempt from just in front of the Griffs’ bench banged off the side of the rim and Cleveland State corralled the loose ball to secure the win.
Head Coach Reggie Witherspoon said, “This was a hard-fought game tonight. This was one of those games that required us to grit it out defensively to win. We aren’t there yet. This was the kind of game that required us to block-out for 40 minutes. We aren’t there yet. We gave up entirely too many second-chance opportunities, especially in the second half.”
Canisius will close out its three-game road swing to start the season on Friday when the team travels to play at Duquesne for another Bluegrass Showcase game. Tipoff in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is set for 7 p.m.
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