Nov. 16, 2002

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Turnovers and a frosty performance at the free throw line equated into Cleveland State's 71-66 season-opening loss to Florida Atlantic at the Dell BCA Invitational Saturday.

Playing at Colorado State's Moby Arena, the Vikings turned the ball over 25 times and converted just 12 of 27 attempts (44.4 percent) at the charity stripe.

Despite those problems, however, the Vikes went down to the wire with the Owls, trailing by just three, 69-66, after sophomore guard Percell Coles (Philadelphia, Pa./Simon Gratz) knocked down a 3-pointer with eight seconds remaining. FAU's Earnest Crumbley, who fired in a game-high 24 points, knocked down two free throws with 6.7 seconds left for the final margin.

"We showed a lot of character down the stretch and played very hard," said Head Coach Rollie Massimino. "We just didn't shoot our foul shots well and that really hurt us."

Junior guard Modibo Niakate (Paris, France/Sacred Heart Griffin) led the Vikings with 17 points in his CSU debut while senior forward Tahric Gosley (Philadelphia, Pa./Simon Gratz) tallied 14 points, junior guard Jermaine Robinson (Philadelphia, Pa./Simon Gratz) tossed in 12 and senior forward Andre' Williams (Clayton, N.J./Bishop Eustace) added 10.

Williams also grabbed 11 boards while Robinson and Niakate had seven apiece as the Vikes outrebounded the Owls, 39-31.