CSLA Reminds CSUN--It’s Hard to Repeat

Cal State Northridge found out Friday night that winning consecutive California Collegiate Athletic Assn. basketball titles may be as tough as repeating as champion of the NBA.

The Matadors, who began defense of their title without the services of their top seven players from last season, took it on their respective crowns, losing to Cal State L.A., 62-51, in the conference opener for both teams.

Pete Cassidy, in his 15th season as Northridge’s coach, said he knows it’s going to be a rough road.

“This conference is so tough, I don’t think anyone has repeated since I’ve been a coach here,” he said. “Oh, wait a minute, that’s right. I did it once.”

So it’s not impossible, but, if Cal State L. A. continues to play the way it did Friday night, consecutive Northridge titles, as in 1978 and 1979, will become improbable.

The Eagles (6-3) broke the game open early, scoring 13 straight points to turn a 7-5 deficit into an 18-7 lead. Guard Shawn Holiday had four points and three assists during the run. The play-making guard, who transferred from Arizona State two years ago, finished with a game-high seven assists.

“Shawn runs our team,” Cal State L. A. Coach Jim Newman said. “He’s our coach on the floor. I’m quite sure we would be a much different team if we didn’t have Shawn.” But the Eagles appeared to have everything against Northridge: height, speed and even the hope of revenge.

The much-taller Eagles--who lost the CCAA championship to the Matadors on last season’s final day--dominated the boards, out-rebounding Northridge, 41-31.

Newman contended, however, that revenge was not a factor.

“Not at all,” he said with a smile. “Someone wrote ‘revenge’ on our board, but I think they forgot about it once they were on the court for about five minutes.”

Coincidently, that’s when the Eagles went to work.

All-American guard Sam Veal scored on consecutive layups, and Cal State L. A. was off and running. Veal scored 10 points in the first half, as the Eagles built a 27-20 halftime lead. He added 13 in the second half to finish with 23.

Forward James Stewart, a 6-8 junior, scored 10 points and had nine of his game-high 14 rebounds in the first half, when Cal State L. A. built its lead. Tony Brown, a 6-10 center also scored 10 points.

Guard Paul Drecksel paced the 7-7 Matadors with 11 points, while guard Pat Bolden added 10.

The Eagles enjoyed a comfortable advantage for most of the second half, but Northridge threatened once, trimming the margin to six points, 34-28, with more than 14 minutes left in the game. The Matadors had an opportunity to cut it to four, but center Paul Hobus was called for an offensive ball, and Cal State L. A. then went on a 9-2 spree to put it away.

The loss was Northridge’s seventh straight on the road. It has yet to win a game outside of the CSUN gymnasium. The win was the Eagles’ sixth straight after dropping their first three games of the season to Division I schools.

Cal State L. A. 62, CS Northridge 51

Cal State Northridge