Northridge Too Much for Montana State

BOZEMAN, Mont. —  Cal State Northridge won with ease for a change, coasting to an 86-62 Big Sky Conference victory over Montana State before 3,522 on Friday night at Worthington Arena.

Northridge (15-8, 7-5 in conference play) never trailed and built a lead--25-5 after 10 minutes--that seemed insurmountable. By the final buzzer, every Northridge player had entered and all but two scored as the Matadors recorded their most lopsided victory of the season.

Forwards Jeff Parris and Hewitt Rolle led the way, Parris scoring 17 points, Rolle 12. Marco McCain had 11 points and Carl Holmes 10.

Coach Bobby Braswell was happy to earn a victory in the Matadors’ final regular-season road game.

“It doesn’t matter to me how much we win by, I’m just glad we got a win to show that we can win on the road,” Braswell said. “I was happy to see the guys come out with a lot of energy and play unselfishly.”

The Matadors, 6-8 away from home, play their final four games at the Matadome, beginning with a matchup against first-place Eastern Washington on Thursday. Northridge, 9-0 at home, is tied with Weber State for third.

The Big Sky’s top six teams advance to the conference tournament March 9-11.

Parris was difficult to contain inside for the Bobcats (12-14, 4-9). He scored seven points, including a three-point basket, to help the Matadors to a 15-5 lead.

Northridge also capitalized on cold shooting by Montana State, which made only two of its first 10 shots and finished 23 of 57.

For Northridge, the victory completed a sweep of Montana State, which defeated the Matadors, 91-90, last season in the opening round of the Big Sky tournament.

Aaron Rich scored 19 points to lead three Montana State players in double figures.