Cal State Northridge Faces Stern CCAA Road Test Tonight at Bakersfield

You think negotiating moguls on your last ski run was a true test of athletic ability?

That’s mere child’s play compared to navigating the hazards of the floor at the Bakersfield Civic Auditorium, according to those who try to play basketball on it.

The difference? You can see moguls.

But dead spots on a basketball floor lurk invisible beneath the surface--similar to land mines ready to explode.

And when they do? Thud. So much for that fast break.

However, the floor is not the toughest part about playing at Cal State Bakersfield, which happens to be Cal State Northridge’s assignment tonight at 7:30.

“Above all,” CSUN Coach Pete Cassidy said, “they are a very talented team.”

Bakersfield, 11-3 and ranked 19th in the nation, was rated among the best 10 Division II teams in several preseason polls.

The Roadrunners, the CCAA’s defending regular-season co-champions, also are supported by a highly partisan--and often obnoxious--capacity crowd.

“Bakersfield is the toughest place in the conference to play by far,” said John Masi, coach of second-ranked Riverside and a one-time target for a beer-tossing Roadrunner fan. “The other ones don’t even compare.

“The crowd is part of it--they’re extremely negative toward the opposing team. And then there’s the floor, and the lights.”

Ah, the lights.

“They’re bad at the south end of the floor,” Cassidy said.

Dealing with shadows and glare is not nearly as unpredictable as coping with the floor, however.

“It’s not like there’s one or two bad spots, you know,” Masi said. “There’s a bunch of them.”

Cassidy, who says most of the bad spots are near the sidelines, claims he has never heard a complaint from a player--at least not to his face.

“They shouldn’t be taking the ball over half-court down the sideline against pressure, anyway,” Cassidy said. “Maybe the dead spots are justifiable punishment.”

Still, Northridge has been more successful than most when visiting the 2,300-seat Civic. The Matadors have won 3 of their past 4 games at the 27-year old facility.

After Bakersfield, the next game on the Matadors’ agenda is Saturday at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, which, in Masi’s estimation, is the second-toughest place to play in the conference.

The Mustangs were 14-0 in their home gym last season and they knocked off heavily favored Bakersfield, 78-73, there Friday.