Matadors Fall Short to Cal Poly
It became clear early in the game at Cal Poly Pomona on Saturday night that if Cal State Northridge was to lose, well, they’d go down swinging.
As has been the norm lately, the Matadors managed to lose, this time 52-47, but the game was up for grabs until the final seconds.
With 14 seconds to go, CSUN guard Paul Drecksel scored from the baseline to put the Matadors within two at 49-47. Four seconds later, the Matadors fouled Ron Bailey, who hit one of two foul shots. With time running off the clock, a layup by CSUN’s Pat Bolden rolled off the rim.
The last-gasp attempt ended CSUN’s chances of pulling off the win.
“We scrapped and worked hard,” said CSUN Coach Pete Cassidy. “We were getting the shots we wanted, but they didn’t drop. We played well enough to win.”
Cassidy made it clear he was unhappy with the officiating in the game. “The consistency of the bad calls was terrible. If I said what I felt, I’d probably get sued.
“We’re perfectly able to lose games without any help. We’ve proven that. But some of the calls killed us.”
Certainly, there was plenty of bashing and crashing for the officials to pick from. The National Hockey League never had it so good.
Unfortunately for the Matadors, in the referees’ eyes, they initiated most of the contact.
Like the night before against UC Riverside, the Matadors hardly sparkled on offense in the first half.
The game started with two uncharacteristic misses at the foul line by Drecksel. He fired up two foul shots that bounced hard off the iron.
On the bench, Cassidy sighed.
On the next trip up the court, Pomona guard Darron Suttle buried a 17-foot jumper. It was an indication of things to come throughout the half.
Even though the Matadors scrapped and clawed on defense, they were unable to stop Suttle. The 5-10 sophomore had 10 first-half points, most of which came from the perimeter.
A jumper from the corner by Pat Bolden tied the score at four, but Pomona big man Tony Theisen went inside to give the Broncos the lead again.
After the basket, Pomona went to a pressure defense. CSUN promptly broke the press when Troy Dueker fired a 25-yard pass to Jimmy Daniels, who was standing wide open under the basket.
The Broncos switched defenses throughout the half. They started with a zone, then changed to a man.
The Matadors didn’t seem to care what defense the Broncos played. They mishandled both.
After scoring just 17 points in the first half Friday against Riverside, the Matadors scored only 23 in the half Saturday night against Pomona.
But they stayed within reach of the Broncos, who managed 27 points.
After falling behind, 10-6, CSUN’s Daniels and Drecksel hit long-distance jumpers to tie at 10.
Drecksel’s free throw then gave CSUN a one-point lead.
As has been the case in nearly all their games this season, the Matadors were forced to shoot from outside--and often they missed.
They did, however, go hard to the offensive boards. Bolden, Drecksel and James Hecht at least tried to assert themselves under the CSUN basket.
With just over eight minutes left in the half, Dueker collided with Pomona’s Matt Fitzgerald. Both players crashed to the floor and bounced around. Fitzgerald was called for the foul, but Dueker missed the foul shot.
The Broncos again pressured CSUN, but Alan Gindlesperger took a long pass, hit a jumper and CSUN led, 13-11.
Bodies hit the deck again when Bolden and Tony Theisen, a 6-7 forward, smashed into one another and fell to the floor.
Cassidy jumped up and down, claiming Bolden had been fouled, but the referees disagreed.
Cassidy seldom agreed with the officials in this game.
With the Matadors ahead, 14-13, Theisen and center Paul Hobus collided. Hobus was called for the foul, and Cassidy couldn’t believe it. First he pounded the floor, then he started yelling.
“What the hell was that?” he asked.
CSUN assistant coach Mark Felix turned and said: “I should’ve been a truck driver.”
Later, Felix said he wanted to be a dentist. And, well, you get the idea. It wasn’t the best of nights for the Matador coaches.
Suttle continued to hit from the perimeter and Theisen was effective under the basket, scoring eight points in the half.
CSUN fell to 8-9, 1-4 in conference. The Broncos are 10-8, 1-4 in conference.