Detroit Titans Eli Holman flips the ball to teammate Thomas Kennedy as Cleveland State Viking's players try to converge. (Glenn Moore / The Dugout Sports Show)

In a game that Cleveland State coach Gary Waters called “men playing against boys”, the Vikings couldn’t climb back from an early deflict against the Detroit Titans, as they lose 65-54 in Cleveland Thursday night.

Cleveland State (15-15, 9-8 Horizon League) entered the game in fifth place in the conference standings, two games ahead of the Titans.

After last night’s loss, that lead is trimmed to one game and has turned the Vikings season finale Saturday against Wright State a must win if they want to secure home court advantage in the first round of the conference tournament.

Norris Cole led the Vikings with 20 points but Cleveland State were overmatched by the bigger, stronger Titans.

Detroit never put away the Vikings, keeping them in the ballgame with two second-half technical fouls. Still, it wasn’t enough for the Vikings to gain the lead.

“This will never happen here again,” Waters said. “We will right this ship and have some players in here physical enough to do some things. This was embarrassing.”

Xavier Keeling of Detroit led the way as the 6-7, 235-pound power forward scored eight straight on a pair of 3-pointers and two free throws.

The Vikings got within three after halftime, but Keeling, Eli Holman and Thomas Kennedy combined for 50 points and never let Cleveland State get that close again.

Cleveland State plays their finale on Saturday at home against second-place Wright State. Tipoff is 2 p.m. at the Wolstein Center.