CSUN Playoff Hopes Dim After 71-67 Loss to CCAA Foe Chapman

There is still a pulse, albeit a faint one.

Using a couple of baseball terms, let’s put it this way: There are two out in the ninth inning and two strikes on the Cal State Northridge basketball team. It needs a grand slam to win.

The kicker is that there’s nobody on--figuratively and literally.

Northridge likely will need victories in its last three California Collegiate Athletic Assn. games if it hopes to reach the playoffs. And considering conference co-leaders Cal State Dominguez Hills and UC Riverside, are among those remaining on the schedule, it doesn’t look good for the Matadors.

Chapman College pushed Northridge a little closer to oblivion by defeating the Matadors, 71-67, Thursday night at the Hutton Sports Center in Orange.

Chapman and CSUN were tied for fourth with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo coming into the game; only four teams make the CCAA’s postseason playoff tournament.

San Luis Obispo also lost, 85-66, to UC Riverside on Thursday, leaving Chapman alone in fourth.

Even if CSUN pulls back into a tie with the Panthers by season’s end, Chapman is the team that will qualify for the playoffs.

The first tiebreaker in the league playoff format is head-to-head competition. Chapman is 2-0 against CSUN, having defeated the Matadors, 79-74, three weeks ago.

Chapman, one of only two teams in the CCAA shooting better than 50% as a team, was even better than that against Northridge.

The Panthers shot 56% as five players reached double figures in scoring.

“We knew we needed a total team effort tonight,” said Russ Ortega, who scored a game-high 17 points. “This was a crucial win for us.”

Still, Coach Pete Cassidy was quick to point out that Northridge--14-10 overall, 5-6 in the CCAA--qualified for the tournament with a 7-7 record last season.

Down by seven with two minutes left, Northridge scored four consecutive times down the floor, cutting the Panthers’ lead to 69-67 when Darren Matsubara made two free throws with one minute left. But in that last minute, CSUN fell victim to--of all things--its own hustle.

With 17 seconds left--and only a tick or two on the 45-second shot clock--Northridge forced a jump ball. Unfortunately for the Matadors, the possession marker favored Chapman. The 45-second clock then was reset--actually turned off--and the Panthers had no need to attempt another shot.

Forced to foul, CSUN’s Karl Becker hacked Mike Minier, who made both ends of a one-and-one situation with 16 seconds remaining to give Chapman a more comfortable four-point lead.

Matsubara led Northridge with 13 points and Alan Fraser added 12. Derrick Gathers added 10 points and Kendell McDaniels had nine points and 10 rebounds.