CLEVELAND, OHIO- In the first game of the Cerebro Sports Lake Erie Challenge, Coppin State men's basketball team fell to Cleveland State 65-62 inside the Wolstein Center Monday night.
Coppin is now 1-6 on the season and 0-3 in the all-time series against the Vikings.
Jesse Zarzuela led the Eagles with 18 points and two assists.
Nendah Tarke and
Tyree Corbett finished the game with double doubles. Tarke tallied 15 points, 12 rebounds, and led the Eagles with two steals, while Corbett scored 13 points with 13 rebounds, and a team-high four blocks. As a team, Coppin outshot Cleveland from beyond the arch at 33.3%, for a combined 10 three pointers made. Coppin scored 14 bench points, which was double the amount of Cleveland's bench points. Both teams split even in rebounds with 40 rebounds each, however Coppin outnumbered the Vikings in defensive rebounds, tallying 31 for the night.
The Eagles had a slow start in the first half, as Cleveland took an 12-0 run, until
Kyle Cardaci subbed in and hit a jumper, which was quickly followed by a layup by Corbett and a three by Tarke. After, another double-digit lead by the Vikings towards the middle of the first half, Coppin started to make correct defensive reads, and contained Cleveland offensively, leaving the Vikings scoreless for four minutes straight. Coppin proceeded on a nine-point run including a layup by Tarke, a free throw by Corbett, and back-to-back threes by Corbett and Zarzuela, which brought Coppin back from an 11-point deficit (15-26) to only a two-point deficit (24-26). Corbett scored nine of his points in the first half and was 2-3 from beyond the arch.
Zarzuela sparked early offensive momentum in the second half with a quick three, followed by a layup off of a put-back from Corbett.
Daniel Titus got going with a nice pump fake layup off a dime by Tarke, as the Eagles trailed by one (31-32). Cleveland combated with a 9-0 run, which was deflated by back-to-back threes from Zarzuela and
Mike Hood. Cardaci took control offensively with four straight points, and an assist to Tarke for a layup, which placed the Eagles down by two (45-47) with 10:40 left of play.
Reggie James tied the game with two made free-throws with 7:57 left to play. Zarzuela capitalized with a deep three which gave the Eagles a three-point lead, and a 19-6 run as Cleveland went scoreless for five straight minutes. Under five minutes left, Corbett and Zarzuela scored back-to-back layups, which placed Coppin with their highest lead of the game (54-49). Cleveland's Tre Gomillion responded with a pair of layups to cut the Eagles lead to one. With three minutes left to go and both teams in the bonus, Coppin and Cleveland embarked on a back-and-forth battle at the free-throw line, as a one-point lead kept fluctuating between the two teams. Tarke stepped up and scored a big layup with 1:20 left. On the following end, Corbett secured possession with a charge, which led to an-one step back jumper by Tarke. This placed the Eagles up by three (62-59) with under a minute left of play. With 26 seconds left, Torrey Patton scored a layup, which cut Coppin's lead to one (62-61). The Vikings then forced two back-to-back turnovers for the Eagles in the last 20 seconds, which led to four straight points for Cleveland, as they took the lead and won the game.
The Eagles are back in action at Canisius on Wednesday, November 24 in the Koessler Athletic Center. Tip-off will begin at 7pm.
