CSUN Falls From Lofty Heights After Loss to Riverside

In the span of a little more than 24 hours, the Cal State Northridge men’s basketball team has gone from being top dog in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. to a member of the pack chasing Cal State Bakersfield.

After winning its first four CCAA games, Northridge lost for the second time in two nights, suffering an 86-62 shellacking at the hands of visiting UC Riverside on Saturday night.

Friday the Matadors were humbled, 103-90, at Cal Poly Pomona.

And Riverside beat Northridge much worse than the final score indicated, outshooting, outrebounding and outhustling a Northridge squad that bore no resemblance to the one that had won five games in a row and six of seven before the Pomona game.

“We let that go, we negated that. . . . I feel the wheels fell off the wagon and we have to spend next week putting them back on,” Northridge Coach Pete Cassidy said. “We need to realize if we don’t come out and play a conference team with top intensity, that’s what’s going to happen.

“This whole weekend is a nightmare. We got effectively torn apart by two teams.”

Despite his team’s thrashing of the Matadors, Riverside Coach John Masi expects the Matadors (9-10, 4-2 in conference play) to bounce back and contend for the conference crown.

“They’re still 4-2. They’re all right. They’ve only played two home games.

“I’m sure they’ll get focused and respond again. You don’t go up to (San Luis Obispo) and Bakersfield and win both without being a good team.

“On Monday, they’ll open up the paper and see that they’re 4-2 and not more than a game out.”

Chris Ceballos, the older brother of All-Big West Conference forward Cedric Ceballos of Cal State Fullerton, scored a game-high 31 points for Riverside (14-5, 4-2).

Riverside point guard Reggie Howard had 10 points and set a CCAA single-game record with 15 assists.

The Highlanders made 32 of 52 field-goal attempts in the game and Ceballos was 13 of 16 from the field.

Gathers scored a team-high 14 points for Northridge, but he was four of 23 from the field and one of 10 from three-point range.

The Matadors made only 21 of 65 shots (32.3%) and were three of 23 from three-point range.

Riverside cooled off considerably in the second half, yet Northridge could never draw closer than 20 points.

And when the Matadors got that close, at 55-35, the Highlanders quickly reeled off a 14-5 run that left Northridge gasping.

Ceballos once again led the Riverside charge, scoring six points during the blitz.

Northridge trailed, 47-18, at halftime after making just six of 26 (23.1%) shots from the field.

The Matadors were two of 15 at one point before Bill Mazurie’s three-point shot snapped a string of six consecutive misses and narrowed the Matadors’ deficit to 33-10 with 8 minutes 26 seconds left in the half.

Riverside, meanwhile, was on fire, hitting 17 of 22 (77.2%) shots, including 14 of its first 17 attempts.