January 8, 2002 – Elizabeth City, NC – The Shaw University Bears routed to the R. L. Vaughn Center for their head-to-head match-up against the Vikings of Elizabeth City State University. Despite jumping out in the first half to lead by as many as seven points and outscoring the Vikings 29 – 24 in the second half, Bears dropped their fourth CIAA contest to the Vikings, 66 – 52.  

At the start of the first half, #30 Damola “Mr. Post Man” Obadina (Forward / 6 – 5 / Senior / Minneapolis, MN) and #21 Brandon Greene (Forward / 6 – 6 / Senior / Slidell, LA) each flushed the nets with two free-throws just prior to #34 John Kornegay (Guard / 5 – 10 / Senior / Detroit, MI) hitting a jumper to build an opening 6 – 0 lead. The visiting Head Coach immediately called for a thirty second timeout. The Vikings only made one of two free throws in the first six minutes of play. It was not until after Shaw deposited in three of four attempted free throws that ECSU would make their first successful field goal at the 14:56 mark; which was three-pointer by #1 Matt Nowlin. Shaw led 9 – 5. Nowlin would rain in another bucket from behind the arc as #3 Anthony Hillard would connect on back to back three-pointers. The Vikings manually moved the hand of momentum to point in their direction as they led 16 – 11. ECSU doubled their four point lead to eight after a lay-up and a three-pointer by #4 Brian West. Shaw responded with a free throw and a lay-up to pull back within five, 23 – 18 ECSU. The home team cushioned themselves with a nine point lead after two free-throws and two in the paint productions, 29 – 20. Shaw’s #00 Cori Gaither (Forward / 6 – 5 / Senior Jacksonville, FL) made a quick jumper at the 4:24 mark to reduce the point margin to seven, but unfortunately it would be the last successfully attempted field goal the Bears would submit for the remainder of the half. As for ECSU, they sped off on a 13 – 1 scoring spurt in the final three minutes to possess a 19 point lead at halftime.

A jumper by #14 Olajuwon Johnson at the start of the second half gifted the Vikings with their largest lead of 21 points. However, Shaw samurai sliced the point deficit to 13 points with back-to-back-back jumpers by Obadina. The 8 – 0 scoring run was capped with a two point conversion by Greene. The Vikings scored a jumper and a lay-up as the Bears’ answered with a three-pointer by #20 Robert “And One” Espinosa (Forward / 6 – 7 / Senior / Plainfield, NJ). In the next six minutes, the Vikings made six free throws and a jumper to pull back out in front by 20 points, 56 – 36, with 6:32 remaining. The Bears only closed the gap to 14 points after two made free throws and a jumper each by #1 Will “Takeover” Graham (Guard / 5 – 10 / Junior / Minneapolis, MN) and Obadina. Zeros stretched across the game clocked before Shaw could complete their comeback.

Leading in scoring for the Bears was #30 Damola Obadina with 17 points (eight rebounds / one steal). Providing additional scoring was #00 Cori Gaither (Forward / 6 – 5 / Senior / Jacksonville, FL) with nine points (a team high nine rebounds / one assist).