Dec. 6, 2002

CLEVELAND - Scoring Cleveland State's first nine points, senior Tahric Gosley (Philadelphia, Pa./Simon Gratz) energized the Vikings as CSU handled Maryland-Eastern Shore 81-61 in a non-league contest Friday night at Goodman Arena.

Gosley scored 20 of his career-high 23 points in the first half to help CSU to a 42-27 lead at intermission. The senior forward hit 9-of-13 shots in the first stanza and made good on his only attempt in the second half. The postman also equaled a career-high with five rebounds and contributed six boards.

However, Gosley wasn't the only offense the Vikings trotted out. Junior guard Modibo Niakate (Paris, France/Hutchinson C.C.) came off the bench to pour in 20 points for the second consecutive game.

Those performance offset the 31-point outburst by UMES's Tee Trotter. The Fighting Hawks' guard tossed in nine 3-pointers to set a Goodman Arena record. In addition, his treys equaled the CSU opponent high taken by UDM's Rashad Phillips on March 1, 2001 at Wright State's Nutter Center.

CSU limited UMES to 35.9 percent (19-of-53) from the floor. Meanwhile, the Vikings topped 50 percent for the second game in a row, hitting 27-of-53 shots (50.9 percent) from the field.

"I thought we defended really well, again," said CSU Head Coach Rollie Massimino. "That Trotter kid can really play, though.

"We got a terrific game out of Tahric Gosley. We've got three guys who shoot the ball well from the outside and if we get one guy to step up, like Tahric, we'll do okay."

Cleveland State also outrebounded the Hawks 40-28 as the 6-1 Niakate and 6-5 Andre' Williams (Clayton, N.J./Bishop Eustace)pulled down nine apiece. Javes Wiggins took game honors for UMES with 10 boards.