CSU’s Cole paints a masterpiece in dropping YSU men

By Joe Scalzo

scalzo@vindy.com

CLEVELAND

With just over a minute left in the first half of Saturday’s game against Youngstown State, a Cleveland State basketball fan yelled out “Thank God for Norris Cole!”

The 6-foot-2 senior guard was the answer to the Vikings’ prayers, putting together one of the best games in school history to keep CSU’s Horizon League hopes alive.

Cole posted career-highs in points (41) and rebounds (20) to go with nine assists, three steals and just two turnovers as the Vikings held off YSU 86-76 in front of nearly 4,000 fans at the Wolstein Center.

“I don’t really play the stats when I’m out there playing,” Cole said. “After the game, I heard I needed one more [assist]. It would have been nice to get it, but I’ll take the win any day.”

Cole’s dominance — he recorded a double-double in each half — overshadowed another solid performance by the Penguins, who have played some of their best basketball of the season the past two weeks, even if they only have one win to show for it.

“This was a hard-fought game,” said Vikings coach Gary Waters. “This team [YSU] plays you hard.

“You really have to play this team.”

Sophomore forward Damian Eargle scored 22 points with five rebounds and three blocks for the Penguins (8-17, 2-13), who were within four, 75-71, with 3:32 left. But over the next three minutes, YSU missed four shots and committed a turnover as CSU stretched its lead out to 13 points.

“That was the difference in the ball game,” said YSU coach Jerry Slocum, whose team fell to 0-12 on the road. “Five empty possessions — that was the difference.”

Ashen Ward scored 15 points with seven rebounds, while Vytas Sulskis had 11 points and DuShawn Brooks scored 10 off the bench for the Penguins, who have held their own against the league’s four best teams over the past 10 days.

After beating Butler on Feb. 3, they took first-place Valparaiso to overtime and gave Wright State all it could handle on Monday. More amazing, this stretch came after YSU’s worst two-game stretch of the season, when it lost to Loyola and UIC — two of the Horizon League’s three worst teams — by double digits in late January.

“I don’t have a crystal ball with that stuff,” said Slocum, when asked about the turnaround. “We prepare hard every day and the kids have boughten into getting better.

“If I could bottle it, I would.”

Cleveland State (22-5, 11-4), meanwhile, is just a game back of Valpo in the league standings — and Cole deserves much of the credit.

“For a guy to come out and do what he did today ...” Waters said. “In that first half, we were a little lethargic. The only one who was scoring was Norris.

“He knows how to control the tempo, he can run past you, he can shoot the 3s. He’s a special kid.”

Afterward, Slocum said Cole is one of three players in the running for his player of the year vote, along with Valparaiso’s Brandon Wood and Butler’s Matt Howard.

Unfortunately for the Penguins, Cole did everything he could to make that a one-man race on Saturday.

“We had a very hard time guarding that guy,” Slocum said. “He obviously was the difference in the game.”