Men's Basketball Upsets #9 Casper in NJCAA Tourney

Men's Basketball Upsets #9 Casper in NJCAA Tourney

Men's Basketball continued their Cinderella run as the 24th seed in the tournament as they upset #9 Casper College 90-83 on Monday.

Cleveland State went on a 9-2 run to start the game, with Jonathan King scoring 5 during the push. Though Casper College cut the lead to just a point multiple times in the first frame, the Cougars never trailed in the first half. Jonathan King had 15 points in the first half and Domont'a Wright had 10.

Casper scored went on a run coming out of the locker room and took a one point lead at the 15:35 mark of the second, but Exavian Young made a layup to give the Cougars the lead right back. The Thunderbirds took the lead again at the 11:36 mark of the second half, but Cleveland State answered right back with a Jaquez Hicks jump shot to reclaim it again. With 8:50 left in the game, Young hit a three-point shot to give the Cougars a five-point cushion, and the Cougars pushed it to double-digits just after the midway point.

The end of the game did not come without its share of dramatics. Casper cut the lead to just three with under two minutes to go, and Cleveland State struggled to make free throws to put the game away. However, they were able to pull away and make it a two-possession game with under a minute to go to hold on for the upset.

King lead the Cougars with 21 points. Wright, Walker, and Young also had double-digits as they scored 18, 14, and 13 respectively. Walker also led the Cougars in rebounds with 8 and Demonte Person had a team-high six assists.

Cleveland State will face #8 Ranger College in the next round of the NJCAA Tournament tomorrow at 5:30 ET.

 

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