Bad news first, Cleveland State lost. A season so filled with promise had ended. Norris Cole has hung up the green and white. And nobody noticed. Although Cole closed out his Vikings career with 18 points and 7 assists, he shot just 6-of-22 from the floor... and missed all of his three point tries. CSU as a team was a shocking 1-for-25, the worst performance in school history. Aaron Pogue added 13 points and 14 boards, but the team simply couldn't overcome the historical inaccuracy from beyond the arc, going a full 8 second half minutes without scoring. Cole is NBA bound and with good reason. The 6'2" guard led Cleveland St in points (21.7), assists (5.3), rebounds (5.8), steals (2.2), free throw % (85.3) while playing nearly 36 minutes a game. The next 6 down on the depth chart return next season for coach Gary Waters, who also adds medical redshirt D'Aundrey Brown and four star recruit Anton Grady. There is no need for doom and gloom among Vikings fans, but it would have been nice to celebrate something in a year that produced 27 wins. Oh yeah, they lost 64-56 at home, to the College of Charleston, on Saturday.
My Ohio Bobcats remain alive in the
CollegeInsider.com tournament! Nothing to get excited about, they haven't played since their opening round win over Marshall last Tuesday. The 'Cats quarterfinal game is Tuesday at 7pm. OU will travel to Johnson City, TN to face the East Tennessee State Buccaneers. If you're an Ohio U junkie like me, take advantage of a unique opportunity to
watch them live online.
Also, I would be remiss if I did not give at least a quick shout out to the Kent State Golden Flashes (coached by OU alum Geno Ford), who have piled up 25 wins this season and advanced to the NIT quarterfinals. In crisscrossing the country from Ohio to northern California to Connecticut's Gold Coast, the Flashes defeated St. Mary's 71-70 and Fairfield 72-68. Tomorrow they head to Boulder to take on the Buffaloes of Colorado at 9pm. The game will be carried live on ESPN and
ESPN3.com.
