CS Northridge Bounces Back

Cal State Northridge got back on the winning track Monday night, breezing past Oral Roberts, 72-59, in a nonconference game before 793 at the Matadome.

The Matadors (3-2) took an 8-6 lead and never trailed, building a 17-point advantage in the second half.

For Northridge, the victory followed a 97-88 overtime loss at San Luis Obispo on Saturday night after which Coach Bobby Braswell criticized his team’s effort.

After watching videotape of the game Sunday, Braswell offered a different opinion.

“We played well against Cal Poly,” Braswell said. “We graded the tape and we saw a lot of hustle by players. We just didn’t do enough to win.

“I’m on them a lot. But I told them if we come out and play with the same effort, we’ll win tonight.”

The Matadors appeared to get the message.

Northridge outrebounded Oral Roberts, 43-30, and shot 53.1%, with four players scoring in double figures.

Forward Jeff Parris led the Matadors with 12 points, despite making only four of 15 free throws. Forward Hewitt Rolle had 11 points, and led Northridge with 11 rebounds. Reserve forward Whitney White scored all of his 10 points in the first half. “We were kind of upset by the loss the other night,” Rolle said. “That was a team we shouldn’t have lost to. We executed tonight, that was the difference. Against Cal Poly, we didn’t do the little things that we need to do to win.”

Reggie Tate led Oral Roberts (4-4) with 26 points.