CSUN Finds Contentment as Contender : 3rd-Place Matadors Exceed Expectations

With four games left in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. basketball season, Cal State Northridge is in a surprising spot: contention.

That’s not to say the Matadors haven’t been there before. They won the conference in 1984, and nine of the past 11 seasons have been winning ones.

It’s just that this season wasn’t supposed to be one of them.

In a preseason poll of CCAA coaches, Northridge was picked to finish sixth in the eight-team conference. And the Matadors’ alleged shortcoming--”talent,” according to Coach Pete Cassidy--had no obvious remedy.

Northridge started off as expected, with six straight losses and a 4-9 record in nonconference games. After starting the conference season with three wins in their first four games, the Matadors dropped three in a row.

But Northridge averted a collapse and carries a modest three-game winning streak into tonight’s game at Chapman College. The Matadors are 6-4 in conference games and tied for third with defending champion Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Opponents might contend that Northridge has thrown an entirely new team on the court, but these are the same Matadors who bumbled and stumbled their way to an 0-6 start. Northridge has almost the same team that finished 4-10 in the CCAA last season.

Starters Ray Horwath, a forward, and Todd Bowser, a center, are the only new players to see much playing time. But they have become formidable additions.

Horwath, a 6-5 junior transfer from Sierra College, was the team’s leading scorer and rebounder in nonconference games, but became tentative and inconsistent when conference play began. But in the last three games, he is averaging 13 points and 9 rebounds.

Bowser, a 6-7, 275-pound freshman, was averaging seven points and four rebounds before awakening against UC Riverside a week ago. Bowser scored a career-high 25 points and had 7 rebounds as the Matadors upset the West’s No. 1-ranked Division II team, 81-75.

Effective outside shooting from Paul Drecksel and Jimmy Daniels has coincided with the improved inside play of Horwath and Bowser.

“I don’t think there’s any question that one complements the other,” Cassidy said. “When you have people who can put ball in the hole from the outside it creates more room inside.”

Drecksel has been one of the team’s top scorers all season, but Daniels, who had struggled for most of his nearly two seasons at Northridge, has been an obvious benefactor of the extra elbow room.

A reputed hot shot from Glendale College, Daniels was a disappointment last season, shooting 37.2% in conference games. He started this season off slowly, too, but is 18 of 29, including 5 of 10 from three-point range, during the Matadors’ win streak.

“We’re feeding off each other,” Horwath said. “I was struggling and pressing for a while, but the other guys helped me come out of it. Basketball is a lot more chemistry than it is talent. You have to have talent to win, but it doesn’t mean much unless you’re all playing well together.”

Said John Masi, coach of first-place Riverside: “Right now, they’re doing whatever it takes to win, and that’s the mark of a good team. They didn’t shoot real well against us, but they played good defense and we shot even worse.”

Northridge’s 43.8% shooting in CCAA games is second best in the conference behind Dominguez Hills (44.1%). The Matadors have been particularly effective from three-point range, converting 15 of 25 in the past three games.

Cassidy wasn’t a three-point rule fan at first, but he’s warmed up to the new rule as more and more bombs from Drecksel and Daniels have settled into the net.

“We were getting beat by it so often I figured what the hell,” Cassidy said. “So we let them loose a little. I’m kind of a stickler about taking bad shots, but sometimes it’s best to let shooters shoot. I think maybe for a while Jimmy was looking over his shoulder every time he took a shot. I’m letting him do his thing a little more and he’s responded.”

Four games are left between the Matadors and a berth in the four-team conference tournament. Three are on the road, where Northridge is 4-6 this season. After tonight’s game, the Matadors are home on Saturday against Dominguez Hills, then conclude the regular season with a trip to Bakersfield and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo next Friday and Saturday.

THE STRETCH RUN IN CCAA BASKETBALL RACE

Team Rec. Opponents Remaining UC Riverside 8-2 Cal Poly SLO, CS Bakersfield, Chapman, CS Dominguez CS Dominguez 7-3 CS Los Angeles, CSUN, Cal Poly Pomona, UC Riverside CSUN 6-4 Chapman, CS Dominguez, CS Bakersfield, Cal Poly SLO Cal Poly SLO 6-4 UC Riverside, Cal Poly Pomona, CS Los Angeles, CSUN

Opp. Team Rec. UC Riverside 22-18 CS Dominguez 18-22 CSUN 22-18 Cal Poly SLO 18-22