GAME NOTES: The Cleveland State Vikings are ready to compete in the 36th annual Horizon League Tournament on Friday night, as they tangle with the Detroit Titans at the ARC.

Cleveland State, the fourth seed in this year's tourney, produced a record of 17-13 overall this season and was 11-5 in league play, although the squad dropped the last two outings on the schedule to Milwaukee and Valparaiso. When it comes to this event, CSU is only 11-18 and has just a single championship stemming from a 57-54 upset of Butler back in 2009.

The fifth-seeded Titans have already gotten off to a decent start in the tournament by taking down Youngstown State three nights ago in a 77-67 final. Detroit is now 34-32 all-time in this event and has reached the semifinals in three of the last five seasons. Second only to Milwaukee which has four, the Titans have won the title three times, the most recent coming in 2012.

As far as the all-time series is concerned, Detroit is ahead by a 38-21 margin, thanks in part to a narrow 66-65 win in the most recent meeting last month at home. Back in January, the Vikings won the first matchup of the campaign by a 70-66 score at home.

The winner of this meeting will be pitted against host and top-seeded Valparaiso on Saturday night for the right to battle for the title and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on Tuesday.

At home in Calihan Hall, the Titans put the squeeze on Youngstown State and came away with the double-digit victory on Tuesday night. Chris Jenkins erupted for 21 points, shooting 8-of-12 from the floor, and came within a rebound of registering a double-double for the Titans. Juwan Howard Jr. delivered another 20 points and Paris Bass 11, making up for his 3-of-9 shooting by blocking three shots.

A 41.4 percent shooter behind the 3-point line, Howard Jr. is the top scorer on the season for the Titans with his 17.9 ppg, and he is also a solid passer with 77 assists in an effort to get his teammates involved in the action. Bass checks in with 12.5 ppg, accounting for 5.8 rpg, which somewhat makes up for the fact that he is shooting only 65.1 percent at the free-throw line.

For Cleveland State, this will be its first neutral-site game of the season, but if the squad's road record is any indication of how the Vikings might perform, the news is not good. Away from home this season, CSU was a mere 5-10, but don't tell that to Trey Lewis who led the team in scoring with 16.9 ppg as he made good on 43.1 percent behind the 3-point line. As a group, the Vikings made seven 3-pointers per contest yet still averaged only 66.9 ppg. Anton Grady, who made only one of his three triples over the course of 30 games, was responsible for 13.7 ppg and a team-best 7.6 rpg, followed by Charlie Lee with 12.2 ppg and a team-best 99 assists, all of that even as he missed the first six games of the campaign.

After plenty of time to rest and plan, the Vikings have to be itching to get back in action this week and with revenge as a motivating factor from the last meeting, CSU should look towards moving on in the tourney.