Dominguez Hills Stifles CSUN : Matadors Try to Run but Are Unable to Hide in CCAA Game, 56-51

Faced with the prospect of playing without one of its biggest offensive weapons, Cal State Northridge resorted to a tactic all intelligent Matadors presumably try--they ran.

The number of points Northridge managed to score may not indicate it, but forced to play without center Todd Bowser, the Matadors turned the tempo up a few notches Saturday night at Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Unfortunately for CSUN, there were Toros at every turn and Dominguez Hills defeated the Matadors, 56-51, in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. game.

It is the fifth game in a row in which Dominguez Hills has held its opponent under 60 points.

This is no accident.

The Toros play defense the way a wounded toro--the real kind--plays offense, which may explain why Northridge shot only 32.6% in dropping to 2-3 in the CCAA, 11-7 overall.

Dominguez Hills, which came within a point of upsetting second-ranked UC Riverside last week, improved its record to 4-1 in conference play, 12-6 overall.

Even without Bowser--who is hopeful of being back in the lineup Thursday at home against Cal Poly Pomona--the Matadors had their chances.

They just didn’t convert any of them. They missed layups, short jump shots and, at the end, a timeout that resulted in a key 5-second violation on an inbounds pass. At least that’s the way one official saw it.

Karl Becker, whose job it was to inbound the ball with CSUN down a point and 29 seconds left, saw it another way.

Ditto for Pete Cassidy, Northridge’s coach.

With Dominguez Hills leading, 52-51, CSUN tried twice to inbound the ball against full-court pressure.

Twice the Matadors failed.

The first time Alan Fraser managed to call a timeout before the official made his 5 count.

“We had people open, he just didn’t see them,” Cassidy said of Fraser. “But did the smart thing in calling timeout.”

Next it was Becker’s turn. And again the Toros applied full-court pressure.

Becker saw no one free. So he tried to call another timeout. But it was too late. According to referee Steve Tayson’s whistle.

“I think he just had it out for us,” Becker said of Tayson, who had earlier called technical fouls on Cassidy and Fraser.

Becker claimed that CSUN’s Darren Matsubara called timeout first. When that didn’t work, Becker said, he called for one himself, then motioned for one.

Cassidy figured the whole sequence lasted no more than 3 1/2 seconds. “No way can I be convinced that was a legitimate five-second count,” he said. “That was awfully quick.”

Dominguez Hills was then awarded the ball out of bounds and Robert Barksdale scored on a layup with 20 seconds left to put the Toros ahead, 54-52.

Northridge’s only chance to tie came on an off-balance 3-point try by Derrick Gathers with 7 seconds left. The ball hit the back of the rim and bounced away.

CSUN led by as many as 6 in the second half, but then was outscored, 13-2, and trailed, 46-41, with 8:35 remaining.

The Matadors regained the lead, 47-46, with 5:37 left on a layup by Kendell McDaniels, but CSUN managed only a pair of free throws by Jemarl Baker thereafter.

Baker scored 12 points and Gathers had 13 to lead Northridge. Anthony Blackmon had 17 points and 12 rebounds for Dominguez Hills.

Both Blackmon and Gathers, each team’s leading scorer, were 5 of 15 shooting.

Already minus Bowser, Northridge was further handicapped when Kris Brodowski was able to play only 2 minutes in the second half. Brodowski, a 6-7 junior filling in on the front line, sustained a rib injury in the first half and was unable to catch his breath.

Both teams shot terribly in combining for only 47 points in the first half.

Northridge, which missed its first 7 field-goal attempts, recovered enough to lead, 25-22, at the half despite shooting only 26.3%.

Dominguez Hills was almost as bad, shooting 29.2%. Together, the teams made only 12 field goals.

Northridge trailed, 9-0, at the start and didn’t score until Alan Fraser--a 54% free-throw shooter--made a pair 7:46 into the game.

Perhaps inspired by Fraser’s sudden accuracy, Northridge ran off 12 consecutive points.

The Matadors, who came in making only 64.5% of their free throws, saved face on the offensive end by making 13 of 14 from the line. The Toros were 7 of 7 in the half and 20 of 22 for the game.

CSUN finished 17 of 18, proving both teams had players capable of shooting well when defenders weren’t fogging up their contacts.

Northridge was without a field goal until Gathers hit a 3-point shot almost 10 minutes into the game.

Dominguez Hills had equally long stretches of ineptitude. The Toros--ahead, 9-0, with 14:53 left in the half--didn’t score again for another 7 minutes.

Blackmon, a preseason All-American, was as bad as anyone else, making only 1 of his first 8 shots.