The Robert Morris Colonials and the Cleveland State Vikings meet Thursday in Horizon League Tournament college basketball action from Wolstein Center. Robert Morris is 16-16 on the year and beat IUPUI in Tuesday tournament activity. As for Cleveland State, they’re sitting at 19-12 overall after a loss to Milwaukee over the weekend. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Robert Morris Colonials
Robert Morris managed a sketchy 11-13 run over their first 24 games this year. The Colonials finished off the regular season with a 4-3 run, taking wins over Fort Wayne, Milwaukee, Green Bay and Youngstown State during that time.
In the tournament game versus IUPUI, the Colonials went into the break with a 34-20 edge. Robert Morris was outscored 44-33 from there but still hung on for the 67-64 victory. Kahliel Spear led the team on 17 points with 11 rebounds.
Cleveland State Vikings
Over on the Cleveland State side, they managed to go 14-10 over their first 24 games this year. The Vikings are 5-2 in their last seven, taking wins over Robert Morris, Youngstown State, Wright State, Northern Kentucky and Green Bay in that time.
Back on Saturday versus Milwaukee, the Vikings managed a 36-31 edge by halftime. Cleveland State was outscored 50-36 in the second however, and lost 81-72. Both Tristan Enaruna (24 points; 11 rebounds) and Tae Williams (21 points; 11 rebounds) doubled up in the defeat.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’m going to stick with Cleveland State. The Vikings’ five-game win streak may have been broken by a Saturday loss to Milwaukee, but Cleveland State is still playing well these days. They’ve hit 72 or more points in five straight games and should post a decent total here as well. The Vikings won both matchups between these teams this year: 63-54 on New Year’s Eve at UPMC Events Center and 57-55 on February 10 at Wolstein Center. That second one was a little sketchy at times so Cleveland State is going to need to clean up their proverbial act in this tournament matchup. I think the Vikings will pull it off.