Cleveland State Rolls Past Undermanned Falcons.

The Cleveland State Vikings defeated the Falcons of Notre Dame College in an exhibition game at the Wolstein Center Sunday by a score of 89-56.  The game was very competitive for the Falcons in the first half, before the Vikings pulled away.
  Bobby Word scored 19 points to lead the Vikings- Kenny Carpenter scored 17- and- Tyree Appleby added 12- while Kasheem Thomas scored 10.  The Vikings shot 49 percent in the contest- they shot 38 percent (14-37) from the 3-point line- and- shot 64 percent (9-14) from the free throw line.  The Vikings  had 17 assists and 13 turnovers as a team.
  NDC was paced by 21 points from Halil Parks- while Angelo Cugini recorded a double-double (10 points and 18 rebounds-) Cole Hayes added nine.  The Falcons shot 37 percent from the floor as a team- they shot 31 percent (8-26) from the 3-point line- and- 78 percent (7-9) from the free throw line.  The Falcons won the rebounding battle 41-30.  They had 10 assists and 30 turnovers as a team.
  The game got off to a slow start for both teams and CSU would lead 7-3 at the first media time out.  The Vikings would score the next seven points and lead 14-3 with 12:33 to go in the opening half.  A little more than a minute later it would be 16-6 CSU.  At the 8:03 mark of the opening half CSU would expand the lead to 14 (23-9.)  NDC would then go on a run to cut the lead to nine (28-19) at the 3:42 mark of the opening half.  The Vikings would go on a 10-2 run to close the half and led 38-21.
  Parks (nine points-) and- Cole Hayes (six) would lead NDC in scoring in the opening half.  CSU was led by Carpenter and Appleby with eight points each.
  NDC coach Tim Koenig spoke about the end of the half:
"It was a 3 possession game and we had three consecutive possessions we turned the ball over and they got run-outs.  The turnovers were crippling" Koenig mentioned."
He also spoke about the first half getting a better effort from his team:
" We got some good looks, we defended way better. We did a better job of protecting the paint today." Koenig said."
  The second half saw the CSU lead cut to 14 (43-29) with 15:41 to go.  Four minutes later the lead would be 16 (51-35.)  The Vikings would stretch the lead to 21 (58-37) with 10:40 to go.  The Vikings would lead by as many as 34 and secure the victory.
Koenig talked about the effort today:
"We competed today.  We just have to make open shots is what it comes down to.  "Koenig said."
Koenig spoke a little bit about being undermanned today:
"We only had seven guys play most of the game today. Will Butler hurt himself yesterday and was not an option.  KT (Taylor) obviously was the big one. He could not go today. Adversity happens. We will get thru this though." Koenig said."
  On the biggest takeaway they can use for the rest of the season after this one Koenig had this to say:
" We have a lot of guys playing in a lot of different spots. Some guys playing in spots they have never played in before.  We just have the next man up mentality. Guys are going to get a chance to play and show me what they can do. We have all mixed our defenses more lately because we are so undermanned. I do not have much of a choice with that.  We competed really well, defended better, and rebounded well today." Koenig said."
NDC will take the week off for Finals this week and then be back in action Saturday as they will travel to Erie,PA to face Mercyhurst. Tip time Saturday is set for 2 PM. You can catch the game on NotreDameFalcons.com