Otta Haunts CSUN as San Luis Obispo Keeps Streak Intact

Mark Otta.

Does the name sound familiar?

For those who follow Cal State Northridge basketball, it should bring back one horrible flashback.

And now another.

It was Otta who made a four-point play--a three-point shot and a free throw--that prevented the Matadors from qualifying for the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. tournament last season.

And if Saturday night’s game ends up making the difference, he might have done it again.

Otta scored 16 points, including a pair of important three-point shots as Cal Poly San Luis Obispo defeated Northridge, 67-58, for its 12th home-court victory this season without a loss.

The first of Otta’s golden rainbows tied the score, 43-43, when it dropped through with 7:16 remaining.

The second occurred a little less than six minutes later and gave the Mustangs a safe 55-46 lead.

It was the last San Luis Obispo field goal of the game, but it made little difference. The Mustangs made 12 of 17 free throws in the last 1:19, including the front ends of seven one-and-one situations.

Guess who made the last two?

Of his clutch three-point shots, Otta said he was merely trying to leave a lasting impression on Mustang fans.

“It got down to the end and I just wanted to go out and stick a couple in my last game here,” he said.

Yes, Otta is finally a senior.

But he should have said last regular-season game in the San Luis Obispo gym.

There is still a chance San Luis Obispo (16-7), which remained in a first-place tie with UC Riverside and Cal State Bakersfield, will host the CCAA’s four-team postseason tournament.

All three teams are 9-3 in the CCAA after winning Saturday, but the Mustangs’ final two games are on the road where they find it much tougher to win. The team with the best record in the CCAA plays host to the tournament.

At least the Mustangs know they will be in the tournament. Northridge is still scrambling to make the field.

The Matadors (14-10, 6-6) are in a fourth-place tie with Chapman, which lost to Riverside on Friday. The teams play at Northridge on Thursday night in a game that probably will decide the tournament’s final entrant.

Had the Matadors closed in the same fashion they began the game, they would be much closer to making the playoff field.

Northridge opened a 15-3 lead in the first 5:27, silencing a normally deafening Mustang home crowd of 1,216.

But San Luis Obispo trimmed the lead to seven, 33-26, at the half, and came roaring back in the second half.

Does this sound familiar?

It should. Just 24 hours after blowing a 23-point lead in a span of 14 minutes against Bakersfield, Northridge took another late-game nose dive against the Mustangs.

The difference: They won at Bakersfield.

“We seem to have an intensity letdown,” CSUN center Todd Bowser said. “We were lucky to pull it out yesterday, but we still blew a 20-point lead. Tonight we weren’t as lucky.”

Or as good. Northridge shot 32.7% in the second half.

The play of Pat Bolden, who became only the seventh Northridge player to score 1,000 points in his career, was one of the only bright spots for Northridge.

Bolden, a senior, scored 17 points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. He has 1,013 points and is in sixth place on the scoring list.

Ray Horwath had 15 points and 9 rebounds for the Matadors. Bowser, who missed much of the second half because of foul trouble and an injured ankle, was held to 10 points on 2-of-7 shooting.

Coby Naess had 13 points for San Luis Obispo and Jeff Gray added 10.