Cleveland State and Valparaiso to do battle for top spot in the Horizon League Thursday night

CLEVELAND - The Horizon’s two best will do battle Thursday night, as second place Valparaiso (17-8, 10-3) enters the Wolstein Center to take on first place Cleveland State (20-4, 10-2).

Tipping off at 7 p.m., it’s a big game for both sides but especially the Vikings.

A win Thursday is crucial to prevent Valparaiso from taking a strangle hold on the conference with a head-to-head tiebreak. Valparaiso beat Cleveland State 72-66 in Indiana January 15.

That’s the Vikings' only loss in the New Year, as they are riding a hot streak, winners of five straight.

While it’s usually stingy defense that fuels Gary Waters’ bunch, hot shooting has only further helped them during the win streak. The Vikings are shooting over 50 percent from both the field and three-point range.

In their loss to the Crusaders last month, they shot just 40 percent from the field and hit only 6 of 22 three-point tries.

A key will be to contain Valparaiso's Dutch junior Kevin Van Wijk, who’s averaging more the 15 points per game and shooting over 60 percent on the season.

He was the leading scorer with 23 points in the teams’ first matchup.

Offensively for Cleveland State, keep an eye on freshman Anton Grady who got his first start Sunday with D’Aundray Brown injured. Grady has not missed a shot in the last two games, hitting on all 10 attempts.

Cleveland State notched its fourth 20-win season in five years with its win at Illinois-Chicago Sunday.

The Vikings are ranked no. 10 in CollegeInsider.com’s Mid Major Top 25 and come in at 35 in the latest AP poll.