After Daniyal Robinson left Cleveland State and took the North Texas job, not only did several of last year’s Vikings follow him to North Texas, but the rest of the team transferred out, too. Rob Summers, a former Cleveland State assistant, took the head coaching job and brought in a new squad of players. It was expected that it would take a while for the Vikings to jell and start having success, and the season has gone exactly as anticipated. But on Jan. 17, Cleveland State took a big step forward with an 80-78 victory over rival Youngstown State. The win snapped a four-game losing streak, and was the Vikings’ first win since Dec. 29. CSU moved to 6-14 overall, and 2-7 in the Horizon. Dayan Nessah led the way with 26 points, which included 15 of 21 shooting from the free throw line.  Chevalier Emery (17 points), Tre Beard (16), and Foster Wonders (12) joined him in double figures. Beard knocked down four 3-pointers, and Nassah corralled seven rebounds and three steals. “We have a lot of respect for the Youngstown State program, and they’re very talented,” Summers said. “(We have) the ability late in games to execute and take care of the ball at times, but when we didn’t take care of the ball (today) it wasn’t deflating. “The look in their eyes when they came over to me (during timeouts) wasn’t one of ‘Oh, man, I feel sorry for myself.’ Instead, it was ‘let’s go out and get this one.’” @csu_basketball Coach Rob Summers discusses the Vikings’ 80-78 win over Youngstown State pic.twitter.com/MQoybPE5jl — Jay Kron (@TownCenter2) January 17, 2026 It was a good thing that the Vikings had the right attitude, because their 79-74 lead in the final minute was in danger of slipping away. Youngstown State’s Bryson Dawkins drilled a 3 to pull the Penguins within 79-76 with 25 seconds to go. After a timeout, YSU’s Rich Rolf stole the ensuing inbounds pass, and Dawkins missed a shot but drew a foul, sinking both to make it 79-78 with 19 seconds left. Then CSU got the inbounds pass in successfully, and Nassah drew a foul to attempt his 20th and 21st free throws of the afternoon. He split the pair, giving the Penguins a chance to tie it or win it in the final seconds. A 3-ball attempt by Tre Blackshear was off the mark, but Jaiden Haynes grabbed the offensive board for the Penguins. He missed on the follow, and Nassah pulled down the rebound, throwing the ball high in the air in jubilation after the final buzzer sounded. “Big game from Dayan Nassah, and a great job by Chevalier coming in in the second half and helping us. Tre Beard is always good,” Summers added. “But we’re under-manned, battling through injuries. That’s what people don’t understand. I’m just very, very proud of these guys, love where the program is headed.” Cleveland State pulled ahead by 18-12 early on, and later built a 28-21 lead, as Nassah scored 11 of his points in the first half, Wonders hit a clutch 3, and the Vikings were 10 of 13 from the foul line. Youngstown State, which fell to 9-11 overall and 2-7 in the Horizon League, struggled from distance in the first half, going 2 of 20 outside the arc. Summers was leery of the Penguins’ outside shooting before the game. “We knew that they could get hot,” Summers said. “They take a lot of 3s, and they have guys that can get hot shooting the basketball. “We really focused in on not getting beat in the paint, because we still don’t have a ton of size with our injuries.” @csu_basketball Coach Rob Summers goes over Cleveland State’s 80-78 win over Youngstown State that snapped a 4-game losing streak (Part 2) pic.twitter.com/KygytpSCJU — Jay Kron (@TownCenter2) January 17, 2026 YSU closed the first half on a 7-0 run to tie it at 28-28 going into halftime. Cris Carroll got hot for the Penguins in the second half, scoring nine of his team-high 21 points in a stretch in which YSU took a 46-37 lead. But the Vikings battled back steadily, possession by possession, finally tying the game at 62-62 on a triple by Beard, and going ahead, 63-62 on a Beard free throw, for good as it would turn out. Nassah took 17 of his 21 free throw attempts in the second half, and most of those in the last five minutes of the game. He made 12 of those freebies, and Emery went 5 for 6 from the line late in the game himself, to help hold off the Penguins down the stretch. Cleveland State was 30 for 39 shooting from the line as a team (77%), and that proved to be instrumental for the Vikings to hold on. “They did a good job kind of jamming us up at times,” Summers said. “Our ability to get to the free-throw line throughout the season has been really good because we cut so much. Today we did a good job getting to the free throws and making them, so I’m proud of the guys.” Up next for the Vikings will be a trip to Dayton on Jan. 21 to take on Wright State in a Horizon League matchup. The score Cleveland State 80, Youngstown State 78 ...read more read less