Late Shots Fail to Fall, CSUN Does

For the second time in two nights, the Cal State Northridge men’s basketball team failed to make the crucial plays down the stretch.

But Saturday night, the Matadors paid for their mistakes and lost to Chapman College, 66-60, in a California Collegiate Athletic Assn. game at CSUN.

The loss was Northridge’s fifth in its past six games and dropped the Matadors (10-13, 5-5 in conference play) into a four-way tie for third in the conference standings with Cal State L. A., Dominguez Hills and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

On Friday night, Northridge defeated Dominguez Hills by four points, despite the fact that the Matadors missed the front end of four one-and-one free throw opportunities in the last 40 seconds. When they failed to score in the last 2:15 against Chapman, however, the Panthers (11-12, 3-7) roared past them.

“We just came up short,” Northridge Coach Pete Cassidy said. “We had the open shots, but we just didn’t hit them. When you don’t do that in the final minutes, it’s hard to win.”

Northridge took a 60-57 lead on a two-hand rebound dunk by Kendell McDaniels (19 points, 11 rebounds) with 2:15 left, but the Matadors never scored again.

Chris Martin’s fifth three-point basket of the second half tied the score, 60-60, with two minutes left and, after a Northridge turnover, Martin (17 points) was fouled and hit one of two free throws with 1:42 remaining to give Chapman a lead it never relinquished.

Northridge had four more possessions after Martin’s free throw, but Jemarl Baker missed two jump shots, and Eugene Humphrey and Bill Mazurie did likewise.

Chapman, meanwhile, got a basket from Roger Middleton and made three of four free throws.

Middleton, who was held to eight points by the Matadors in a 77-58 win over Chapman earlier this season, had a game-high 20 points (six of eight from the field) and 11 rebounds.

Sandy Brown scored 12 points in 22 minutes for Northridge.

Derrick Gathers, the Matadors’ leading scorer, did not play in the second half after hitting only one of four shots in the first 20 minutes. Cassidy declined comment when asked about Gathers’ benching.