Revamped Lineup Breathes New Life Into Northridge’s Offense in Win

Having sputtered in several important games recently, Cal State Northridge injected an untested but obviously high-octane mixture into its starting lineup Saturday against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

The new face belonged to Sandy Brown. After The 6-5 forward helped Northridge get off to a fast start, the Matadors had far too much horsepower for the Mustangs in a 90-61 victory in in a California Collegiate Athletic Assn. game at CSUN.

Brown, a freshman from Manual Arts High, scored 12 points in his first college start and helped limit Coby Naess, San Luis Obispo’s top scorer, to four points--14 under his season average.

Brown helped put CSUN on the right track early. After seven minutes, he had outscored the Mustangs by himself, 8-7.

“The last couple of games we got off flat,” Brown said. “After I made the first one on an offensive rebound I felt I could help keep us running.”

The addition of Brown, who had been CSUN’s second or third man off the bench, represented half of a major change in the Matadors’ starting lineup. Karl Becker, a part-time starter this season, also joined the opening lineup.

On the bench at the start were Derrick Gathers and Darren Matsubara, Northridge’s top scorers in CCAA games.

Gathers was being disciplined for his failure to notify Coach Pete Cassidy that he would be late for practice on Friday.

And Matsubara?

“It was a coach’s decision,” Matsubara said. “Maybe we should do it all the time. It worked well tonight.”

Matsubara led Northridge with 17 points in 23 minutes. But there were plenty of standouts for CSUN. Alan Fraser, Kris Brodowski and Kendell McDaniels dominated play inside the key.

“Alan Fraser is the most underrated player in the conference in my opinion,” Cassidy said of the 6-6 senior who scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

Brodowski and McDaniels turned in equally strong blue-collar efforts. Brodowski scored only six points, but added nine rebounds and five assists. McDaniels had eight points and four rebounds in only 13 minutes.

Northridge (14-9) shot 49% and never relented on defense, forcing 17 turnovers. San Luis Obispo (13-9), one of the conference’s better shooting teams, made 21 of 68 (30.9%) of its field-goal attempts.

“This is the second or third time this year we’ve played in coach’s system--really stayed in it the whole way,” Matsubara said. “He set down the guidelines and we stuck with them. It’s a lot easier when everyone is doing the same thing.”

Said Cassidy: “I didn’t say anything to them that I haven’t been saying all year long . . . but tonight it clicked. It’s pretty basketball when you play that way.”

But it helped turn the CCAA standings into one ugly mess.

Northridge, 5-5 in conference play, moved into a tie for fourth with San Luis Obispo and Chapman. Four teams make the conference’s postseason tournament.

The Matadors play at Chapman on Thursday.

CSUN led at the half, 42-29, and only a three-point shooting exhibition by James Gama kept the Mustangs temporarily within distance in the second half.

Gama, a former Santa Clara standout who finished with 20 points, scored nine of San Luis Obispo’s first 10 points in the half on three long-range shots. They were the only field goals made by the Mustangs until Errol Talley scored on a layup with 11:21 left.