Awakening of Bowz Lifts Northridge to Upset of Riverside

Anyone who has ever caught a glimpse of Todd Bowser knew it had to happen someday.

Six feet, seven inches, 275 pounds. A freshman, for goodness’ sake. Formerly recruited by Oklahoma and every other university with a football major.

What was it going to take to flip this guy’s switch? An elbow to the face? A shot to the midsection?

All it took was UC Riverside showing up and the big guy went off. Bowser scored 25 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead Cal State Northridge to an 81-75 upset of the Highlanders on Friday night at CSUN.

Riverside came in ranked 13th in Division II, No. 1 among Western schools, and in first place in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. with a 7-1 record.

The Highlanders’ best players are Robert Jimerson and Paul Kapturkiewicz. Jimerson is 6-7, a senior, and an All-American. Kapturkiewicz is 6-9, a senior, and arguably the best center in the conference.

Usually. But not on this night. This was the night of the Bowz.

Bowser struck for 15 of his points in the first half as the Matadors built a 39-34 halftime lead. More importantly, his strong play inside allowed things to open up on the perimeter for Northridge in the second half.

“For a freshman going up against two of the best inside players in the conference, Todd showed tremendous poise and presence of mind,” said CSUN Coach Pete Cassidy. “When they started collapsing on him, he kicked it right back out to the open man.”

Said Bowser: “Everything seemed to click tonight.”

And not only for him.

There was Paul Drecksel tossing in a couple of first-half three-pointers. And Jimmy Daniels, too. There was Pat Bolden coming from out of nowhere to block a layup by Julius Thomas. And, oh yeah, he also threw in a three-pointer with 3:52 left and the Highlanders on a run.

And how about Ray Horwath? All he did in one stretch was draw a key offensive foul on Riverside center Paul Kapturkiewicz and then grab his own two misses before throwing in a seven-foot hook on the other end of the floor. And then he threw in a three-pointer with 2:04 left and the Matadors clinging to a five-point lead. He finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

And let’s not forget Troy Dueker, he of the crew cut and cool head. Averaging four points a game, he scored six in the last 15 minutes. And Carl Cooper, Dueker’s replacement, came up with an important steal with a little more than a minute left.

“Everyone contributed,” said the Bowz, whose last accomplishment of the night was to run a fly pattern and catch a half-court pass as the Matadors broke the press late in the game.

Good thing for Cassidy that Bob Burt, the football coach, wasn’t around to see it.

And when it was over, the Matadors celebrated like a team that had won a title instead of improving to just 5-4 in conference.