Northridge’s CCAA Season Ends Fittingly in 92-86 Loss

It was Cal State Northridge’s basketball season summed up in a 40-minute nutshell.

Promising start, rough going in the middle, an all-out effort near the end . . . and a bitter finish.

UC Riverside clinched the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. regular-season championship by defeating Northridge, 92-86, Saturday night in front of a standing-room-only crowd at the Highlander gym.

Riverside, ranked sixth in Division II, is 23-4 and won the CCAA title with a 12-2 record. The Highlanders needed a win to secure the title outright and thereby play host to the conference’s four-team tournament beginning Thursday.

The Matadors, who finished 16-11, 7-7 in CCAA play, just could not overcome the conference’s best outside shooter.

Maurice Pullum, who helped Ventura College to a state junior college championship two years ago, provided the marksmanship for Riverside.

The senior guard scored a game-high 31 points and made six of 12 three-point shots, including a volley of three that sank CSUN in the game’s final minutes.

Five Northridge players scored in double figures, led by Derrick Gathers, who had 22 points. Kendell McDaniels had 14 points, Sandy Brown 13, and Jemarl Baker and Darren Matsubara each added 12.

“We played hard,” Northridge Coach Pete Cassidy said. “Definitely well enough to win.”

Well, not quite.

Northridge trailed, 85-76, with only 3:10 remaining but outscored the Highlanders, 8-1, in the next 2:44.

A three-point shot by Gathers brought CSUN within two, 86-84, with 26 seconds to go.

But in the last 22 seconds Pat Vieira and Pullum each made two free throws.

A layup by Brown off a pass from Matsubara with 14 seconds remaining kept the Matadors close, 88-86. Pullum scored the final four points of the game by making his free throws, then adding an uncontested dunk at the buzzer to punctuate the Highlanders’ championship season.

It was Northridge that controlled the tempo for most of the game before getting buried with a flurry of Riverside three-point baskets.

The Matadors’ last lead was 67-66 after Todd Bowser hit a hook shot from the baseline with 8:31 left.

Pullum answered with a three-point basket to put Riverside ahead for good, 69-67, with 8:13 remaining.

It was the first of three long-distance bombs he made in less than two minutes.

“We’re not supposed to trap in the corner in that press, but we did,” Cassidy said. “They were wise enough to go cross-court and they found him all three times.

“It was overenthusiasm on our part, but you can’t fault overzealousness. There aren’t many Maurice Pullums around who can shoot those.”

Northridge led five points at the half but the advantage was tenuous at best.

Karl Becker, starting at forward in the place of Gathers, had four fouls. Center Alan Fraser had three.

Becker’s fourth came at the buzzer marking the end of the half. After a steal, he dribbled the length of the floor and hit a 10-footer in the lane but was called for charging, negating the basket.

Becker started the second half on the bench, but even that didn’t keep him around long. Less than two minutes after returning to the lineup, he fouled out with 13:33 left in the game.

With 10 minutes left, McDaniels was Northridge’s only player on the front line with less than three fouls. Fraser picked up his fourth with 11:55 remaining and Bowser, seeing his most action in more than a month, was called for his third less than two minutes later.