Northern Arizona Upends CSUN to Break Streak : College basketball: Lumberjacks stop Northridge comeback, 77-64, and end 10-game tailspin.

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

Unfortunately for Cassidy, he was correct and the Matadors were beaten, 77-64, before 982 at Walkup Skydome.

The Matadors, who fell to 5-11 and 2-10 on the road, were unable to prove that their last loss, Jan. 17 at Wisconsin-Milwaukee, was simply a symptom of playing three games in four nights.

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

Northridge shot 58% in those wins, but against the Lumberjacks, who improved to 3-14, the Matadors connected on only 34% of their shots. In the first half alone, Northridge missed 13 layups and/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. You gotta focus. I don’t have the answers.”

On the two occasions that Northridge attempted to rally, Northern Arizona’s Steve Williams, who scored a game-high 26 points, had the answers.

“We made an All-American out of Steve Williams tonight,” Cassidy said. “We let him do what he can do instead of what he can’t do.”

It was Williams’ three-point basket, with the shot clock down to nine seconds, that ended the Matadors’ last threat with six minutes left. Northridge had pulled within five, 61-56, when Williams’ shot ignited a 7-0 run that put the game out of reach.

Despite the plethora of missed layups, the Matadors led by as many as seven points in the first half, but, with 5:45 left, Northern Arizona reeled off 12 consecutive points to turn a 21-14 deficit into a 26-21 lead.

Aside from a pair of free throws by Todd Bowser, Northridge was held scoreless for 6 1/2 minutes. In that span, the Matadors turned the ball over four times, missed nine shots and sent the Lumberjacks to the free-throw line four times.

“It was really frustrating,” point guard Andre Chevalier said. “Especially knowing we could beat this team.”

The drought finally ended with 23 seconds left in the half when Bowser scored inside off a feed from Chevalier.

Bowser was fouled on the play and although he missed the foul shot, Northridge got the ball back on a traveling call. On the out-of-bounds play, Bowser scored inside again.

As Northern Arizona set up for its final possession of the half, Chevalier stole the ball from point guard Corey Rogers. Although Rogers’ bumped Chevalier, forcing him to miss the layup attempt, Shelton Boykin swished a follow shot at the buzzer.

The six consecutive points in the last 23 seconds of the half enabled Northridge to cut the lead to six at 35-29.

“We had the momentum going then,” Cassidy said.

The Matadors kept it in the first three minutes of the second half by hitting four of their first seven shots and a pair of free throws to pull within 40-39.

But the Lumberjacks’ Jeff Plank countered with a pair of three-point shots sandwiched between a basket by Chevalier. Just then, CSUN’s Kyle Kerlegan was whistled for a technical foul.

Although Plank missed both technical foul shots, the Lumberjacks retained possession and scored on two free throws by Ken Bosket to push the lead back to six.

Bowser and Chevalier were the only Northridge players to crack double figures with 17 and 12 points, respectively.

Notes

CSUN sophomore center Percy Fisher was benched for the final 2:21 of the first half and all but the last 3:23 of the second half after he showed a lack of conditioning and judgment, according to Coach Pete Cassidy. Fisher was removed from the game immediately after delivering an offensive foul (away from the ball) that appeared to Cassidy to be retaliatory. “He hurt the team,” Cassidy said. . . . Cassidy argued vehemently over the technical assessed to mild-mannered Kyle Kerlegan, the first technical Kerlegan has received. “I think the comment I had came at a time when he (referee) had no fuse,” Kerlegan said. “I caught him at a bad time because the comments made by other players earlier were much worse.”

Cassidy on Todd Bowser, who had to carry the load because of the benching of Fisher: “Todd comes out and keeps his poise. He plays hard, he keeps his mouth shut, he takes a beating and he plays through it. He’s mentally tough. I can trust Todd.”. . . .

Northern Arizona Coach Harold Merritt coached with a heavy heart. His father died two days ago. Merritt will miss the Lumberjacks’ game Saturday against Idaho State to attend the funeral.