Nov. 20, 2004

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Contact: Brian McCann

CLEVELAND -- Patrick Tatham scored a career-high 17 points, including 12 in the second half, and Omari Westley added 14 points and 13 rebounds, as Cleveland State came from behind to defeat Hillsdale College, 73-64, on Saturday night in the CSU Convocation Center.

The win allowed the Vikings to end the longest losing streak in the nation, a 23-game skid that dates back to the sixth game of the 2003-04 season.

"We could not have won this game a year ago," head coach Mike Garland said. "We came back and showed some poise and maturity. It was a team win. Ten different guys had a hand in the victory which is what we need to do this year."

The Vikings struggled offensively in the first half while Hillsdale patiently ran its offense. The Spartans connected on six of 11 three-pointers in the first half, the last extending its lead to 26-14 with 6:44 left. CSU would rally, using a 9-2 scoring run over the final 3:38 of the half to trail, 34-30 at intermission.

"We were all over ourselves early trying to do too much," Garland said. "We just needed to settle down, run our offense and play our game and good things would happen."

The pressure continued at the start of the second half as Walt Chavis, who handed out seven assists with just one turnover, found Tatham for layups on back-to-back possessions in the first 1:04 to knot the game at 34-34.

Minutes later, freshman Steve Gansey gave the Vikings their first lead when he scored five straight points, the last two coming on a layup with 15:05 left that gave Cleveland State a 39-38 lead.

The Vikings would never trail again though Hillsdale would tie the game at 44-44 with 11:26 left before Westley and Tatham would lead CSU on a 9-2 run to pull away for good. Westley scored the first three points in the spurt with Tatham following with three straight baskets, the last a thunderous slam dunk off an alley-oop pass from Westley that gave CSU a 53-46 advantage with 9:05 left.

Hillsdale fought back, trimming the lead to 55-53 with 6:40 left but four different Vikings scored baskets during a 9-0 run to put the game away.

Tatham's return to the court after missing the final six games of the 2003-04 season was an impressive one. He made eight-of-13 field goal attempts to surpass his previous scoring best of 12 points set against Youngstown State last year.

Westley proved to be a thorn in the side of the Spartans all night. The target of Hillsdale's defensive efforts all night long, he managed just three field goals but was still able to hurt Hillsdale in a number of ways. Nine of his 13 rebounds were off the offensive glass, part of a 20 offensive rebound effort by CSU.

Although bottled up in the lane, Westley, who ranked second in the Horizon League last year with 175 free throw attempts, went to the line 12 times on the evening, scoring eight times.

The contest also served as the return to the court by senior Modibo Niakate, who redshirted during the 2003-04 campaign. Niakate came off the bench to make five of his six field goal attempts to finish with 11 points.

Drew Powell led Hillsdale with 18 points while Tim Homan added 14.

The Vikings will continue their season-opening three game homestand against Norfolk State on Saturday, Nov. 27 beginning at 1:00 p.m. in the Convocation Center.