Northridge Hands League Title to Cal Poly after 78-54 Defeat

Cal State Northridge passed the conference throne to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Saturday night in a rather unceremonious fashion.

The Matadors, the defending California Collegiate Athletic Assn. champions, watched as Cal Poly SLO claimed the 1986 title with a 78-54 victory.

Cal Poly (12-1 in CCAA) has won 10 straight conference games. CSUN (4-9, 11-14 overall) will meet Cal State L.A. on Tuesday in the season finale. The loss saddled Northridge Coach Pete Cassidy with his first losing season in nine years.

The Mustangs broke the game open when they began the second half with a 10-0 run.

The Matadors stayed with Cal Poly for much of the first half, but let the game slip away just before intermission. Mustang Sean Chambers scored 10 points in six minutes.

Chambers, San Luis Obispo’s leading scorer with a 15.1 average, had drawn a blank in the early part of the game. He missed his first three attempts, but then hit nine of his next 10 shots.

Chambers finished with a game-high 21 points and put an exclamation point on the conference title with a slam dunk that gave the Mustangs a 27-point lead with eight minutes to play.

The Matadors were coming off an emotional one-point victory over Cal State Bakersfield on Friday night, but they didn’t appear to bring any momentum with them to San Luis Obispo.

Cassidy said Friday night’s victory could have been a curse or a blessing.

“With a young team, that can work both ways,” he said. “It can mean momentum coming in or maybe living a little in last night’s enjoyment.”

Cassidy said the Matadors let the game slip away just before the half. CSUN led, 17-16, when Chambers and Jim Van Winden combined for eight points.

“There were some turnovers, bad calls and a lot of no calls,” Cassidy said. “With a young team, that can turn things sour fast. Maybe with more experience and a bit more talent, we could have withstood that better.”