Northridge Loses Again on Road, 81-69

Cal State Northridge made progress in its quest to win a game on the road in its first Division I season, but victory still eluded the Matadors Friday night as they lost, 81-69, to Idaho State before 3,300 fans at Reed Gymnasium.

For the first time, Northridge held a second-half lead away from Matador Gymnasium, but instead of increasing it, fell apart to drop to 2-7.

The Matadors collapsed after taking a 52-51 lead on Kyle Kerlegan’s three-point basket with 13 minutes 4 seconds left. During the next eight minutes, Northridge was outscored, 22-4.

In that span, Northridge missed six shots, turned the ball over four times, sent the Bengals to the free-throw line four times and committed an offensive foul.

The low point came with 7:02 remaining when Shelton Boykin threw a pass the length of the floor to a wide-open David Swanson, who never turned around as the ball sailed out-of-bounds.

Idaho State (3-7) shot 31 free throws to Northridge’s 11, outrebounded the Matadors, 43-33, and made 49.1% of its shots, compared to Northridge’s 38.2%. So far this season, Northridge is shooting 37.3% on the road.

Kerlegan finished with 21 points, and Keith Gibbs and David Keeter added 13 points each for Northridge.

“Right now it is kicking us in the butt every time,” Keeter said of the monkey on the Matadors’ back. “Hopefully, we can snap out of it Saturday night (against Weber State).”

Four Idaho State players scored in double figures, led by Rodney Jackson with 21 points.