CSUN Can’t Overcome Chapman in Second Half

Chapman College used a 20-4 spurt midway through the second half and coasted to a 63-54 win over Cal State Northridge on Saturday night at Chapman.

After the run by the Panthers, the game was, more or less, out of reach for the Matadors.

“We outscrapped them,” said Chapman Coach Kevin Wilson. “Once, there was a loose ball in front of our bench. We had three guys on the floor after it to their one.”

Chapman used a trapping zone defense that seemingly confused CSUN in the second half.

“We didn’t want to let them pass and take their time against our zone, so we trapped. At times, it didn’t look like they knew what they were doing.”

Northridge Coach Pete Cassidy agreed. “We turned off our brains and turned on the stupidity. It takes concentration to deal with pressure. Our turnovers really hurt us,” he said.

Cassidy said things like, “It’s not the end of the world,” and “The sun will come up tomorrow,” but he wasn’t altogether convincing.

He was clearly depressed after watching his team fall apart down the stretch.

The game started with plenty of long-range bombing. Nobody even looked at the 45-second clock.

Chapman guard Jim Saia started things with a 19-foot jumper to give Chapman a 2-0 lead.

CSUN guard Paul Drecksel came back with an in-your-face 20-footer to even the score.

The Panthers went inside to forward Paul Rollins, who kissed a shot off the glass. But CSUN stayed outside.

Drecksel hit a shot from the right, and the Panthers’ Saia answered from the top of the key. In your face yourself.

Troy Dueker got into the action by scoring from way out. The Matadors took the lead, 8-6, on another Drecksel rainbow.

Rollins followed that with a long shot. So it went.

With just more than 14 minutes left in the half, Chapman center Kelly Huston put the Panthers ahead, 10-8. Huston, a 6-6 sophomore, played for Pierce College last year.

With everyone else firing away from all distances, it was Huston’s mid-to-close range baskets that hurt Northridge in the half.

Huston finished with 10 first-half points.

Another Panther big man, Karl Tompkins, played for College of the Canyons for two years. He finished with seven points.

The Matadors went ahead by four when Drecksel and Dueker buried shots from the perimeter.

But Huston went inside, scoring two straight baskets and it was tied at 14.

Pat Bolden gave the Matadors a three-point lead on an excuse-me shot that bounced off his hands and fell in. He was fouled on the shot.

Chapman’s Mike Kelly made two shots, one just inside the sideline. Matt Honikel’s basket gave the Panthers a 20-17 lead.

The score remained close until the closing minutes of the half. With two minutes left, Huston scored inside and Andy Marusich hit two free throws.

Then Northridge committed a couple turnovers. With 1:17 left, Matador Dan Mulder was called for an offensive charge under the CSUN basket.

Cassidy made it clear that he didn’t agree. With Cassidy repeatedly yelling, “How the hell do you figure that?”--he was hit with a technical.

Saia hit one of two from the line, giving the Panthers a 27-23 lead.

With 53 seconds left, Saia scored on a jumper that rolled around the rim, hit the board and dropped in. It was a hint of bad things to come for the Matadors.

CSUN fell to 8-7, 1-2 in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. Chapman is 5-10, 1-2 in conference.