Norris Cole, Cleveland State Lose to College of Charleston in NIT's Second Round

Following Tuesday night’s thrilling opening-round victory over the Vermont Catamounts, which was only complete after Matt Glass’s game-tying attempt bounced on the rim for what seemed like an eternity before dropping safely to the floor, the Cleveland State Vikings turned their attention to their next opponent in the National Invitation Tournament: the College of Charleston Cougars.

Saturday’s matchup featured two of the most underrated and overlooked players in college basketball—Cleveland State’s Norris Cole and College of Charleston’s Andrew Goudelock. 

A three-year starter for Cleveland State, Cole has received increased publicity in recent weeks due to his well-deserved status as a finalist for both the Cousy Award and the Wooden Award.

Goudelock was the NCAA’s fourth-leading scorer this past season and is only one of 62 players in NCAA history to score more than 2,500 points in his NCAA career.

Both players are projected to be future NBA players, and several NBA scouts were in attendance at the Wolstein Center on Saturday to watch these stars battle for a spot in the NIT quarterfinals.

The game remained relatively close throughout the first half, with neither team leading by more than five points. However, with approximately five minutes left in the first half, the Cougars went on a brief run and extended their lead to 11. The Vikings responded by scoring five straight points to narrow the Cougars’ lead to 38-32 at halftime.

Cleveland State continued to cut into the Cougars’ lead during the early minutes of the second half. The Vikings' stout defense held the Cougars without a field goal for approximately five minutes, and the Vikings appeared poised to win the game after they finally regained the lead with slightly less than 11 minutes left in the second half. After the Vikings and Cougars proceeded to trade leads, the Cougars scored 11 straight points to retake a lead that they never relinquished.

Although the Vikings narrowed the Cougars’ lead to four with approximately one minute left in the game, the Cougars’ foul shooting kept the Vikings from further trimming the Cougars’ lead.

If asked, Cleveland State fans who didn’t watch Saturday’s game would most likely be inclined to chalk up Saturday’s loss to rebounding. Throughout this season, rebounding has been the Vikings’ major problem. In the majority of the Vikings’ losses throughout the season, the Vikings were outrebounded by a significant margin. However, in Saturday’s game, the Vikings won the rebounding battle. Additionally, the Cougars had 15 turnovers, while the Vikings only had six turnovers.

So, why did the Vikings lose?

Simply put, the Vikings lost because of their three-point shooting.

Unfortunately for Vikings fans, Cleveland State picked a bad day to have one of the worst three-point shooting days in school history. The Vikings shot 1-for-25 (four percent) from three-point range.

Sophomore Tim Kamczyc nailed the Vikings’ only three-point shot. Trevon Harmon and Jeremy Montgomery, who have provided the Vikings with steady three-point shooting all season long, shot a combined 0-for-11 and missed several open shots. In his last game in a Cleveland State uniform, Norris Cole went 0-for-8.

The College of Charleston Cougars will now play either Virginia Tech or Wichita State in the NIT quarterfinals. The Cleveland State Vikings will now begin to figure out life without Norris Cole, one of the most decorated and successful players in school history.