Northern Arizona Beats Northridge, 77-64

In spite of Northern Arizona’s 10-game losing streak, its 19-point loss at Cal State Northridge Dec. 1 and the suspension of two of its starters, Northridge Coach Pete Cassidy viewed the Lumberjacks as the favorites Wednesday night.

He was right. The Matadors were beaten, 77-64, before 982 at Walkup Skydome.

Northridge, which fell to 5-11 overall and 2-10 on the road, was unable to prove that its last loss, Jan. 17 at Wisconsin Milwaukee, was simply a symptom of playing three games in four nights.

Instead, the good performances at Northeastern Illinois and Loyola appear to be the aberrations.

Northridge shot 58% in those victories, but against Northern Arizona, which improved to 3-14, the Matadors connected on only 34% of their shots. In the first half alone, Northridge missed 13 layups or two-footers.

“It is not like we were taking bad shots,” Cassidy said. “A lot of them were uncontested shots, wide-open shots. You can’t say their defense smothered us--that is a joke. We got the ball inside.

“A layup is a layup. My God, this is college ball. You gotta be a finisher. . . . I don’t have the answers.”

Northern Arizona’s Steve Williams had 26 points worth of answers.

His three-point basket, with the shot clock down to nine seconds, ignited a 7-0 run and ended the Matadors’ last threat with six minutes left in the game. Northridge had pulled within 61-56.