CS Northridge Basketball Team Returns Home

Having earned a split on its toughest trip of the season, Cal State Northridge will play 6 of its next 7 California Collegiate Athletic Assn. basketball games at home.

But is that good news or bad news for the Matadors?

Northridge (11-5) has lost its past 2 games at home after winning 5 home games in a row.

“We need to get the feeling of winning at home again,” said CSUN Coach Pete Cassidy, whose team beat Cal Poly San Luis Obispo last Saturday after losing at Bakersfield. “It’s our gym, our crowd, our environment. We practice there every day. We should be as tough as hell to beat there.”

Northridge will be short-handed as it tries to regain its form tonight at 7:30 against Chapman College.

Forward Leroy McCullough is academically ineligible and has left the team at least temporarily in order to concentrate on his studies. McCullough, the team leader in shooting percentage (57.1%) and blocked shots (10), was fourth in scoring for the Matadors, averaging 9.1 points a game as a reserve.

Chapman is 8-8 overall and 1-2 in the CCAA, a game behind Northridge, which is 2-1 and in a 4-way tie for second place behind Riverside.

Forward Rog Middleton, a transfer from Utah who became eligible in December, leads Chapman with a 15.7 average in conference play.