Northridge Wakes Up in Time for a 92-83 Win

For 29 minutes Saturday night, Cal State Northridge played down to the level of its competition, Division II Cal State Sacramento. Then, in a span of 2 minutes 18 seconds, Northridge shook out of its doldrums and shook the Hornets for a 92-83 victory.

It was Northridge’s fourth win in five attempts at Matador Gymnasium and its sixth overall against 11 losses.

Trailing, 63-58, with 11:03 left, the Matadors outscored the Hornets, 17-2, to take a 75-65 lead that was never threatened.

Kyle Kerlegan, who had asked Coach Pete Cassidy not put him in the starting lineup because he has been mired in a two-game slump, ignited the run with a three-point basket from the top of the key after shaking his defender with a head fake.

On the Hornets’ ensuing possession, Kerlegan stole the ball and was fouled. He missed his second free throw but was fouled getting the rebound. His ensuing free throws gave CSUN a 64-63 lead.

After a Sacramento basket, CSUN’s Percy Fisher scored on a feed from Andre Chevalier and made the free throw to complete a three-point play. Then David Keeter forced a turnover and Kerlegan swished a three-point basket off the out-of-bounds play.

The Hornets again were denied a shot when Chevalier and Kerlegan combined for a steal, Chevalier taking the ball the length of a court for a layup. Sacramento called a timeout, but Keeter and Kirk Scott thwarted their next possession with a steal.

Scott put up an air ball for CSUN, but it was no surprise with the way things were going for Northridge that Kerlegan was able to save the ball out of bounds to Keeter, who was fouled.

Keeter missed his second foul shot, but it went CSUN’s way again as Scott was fouled on the rebound. His free throws ended the run--and the Hornets’ upset bid.

Greg Ballard did most of the damage for Sacramento with a game-high 32 points, including 23 in the first half.

Northridge was led by freshman point guard Chevalier, who scored 19 points, had six assists and four steals.

Six CSUN players scored in double figures, including Keith Gibbs, who also had asked not to start and played better off the bench with 10 points and five assists.

“It was very unselfish of them,” Chevalier said of Kerlegan and Gibbs. “We like each other and we all want to do what it takes to win.”

Keeter and Sean Davis started in place of Kerlegan and Gibbs and performed admirably. Keeter scored eight points and had six rebounds and Davis scored all seven of his points in the first half and grabbed four rebounds.

“I was able to come in quietly and go at my own rate,” Kerlegan said of his first experience off the bench. “Sometimes I feel better with what’s happenning when I’m in there and other times I feel we’re better off with someone else in there.”

Clearly, Northridge has to have Chevalier in almost full time. He played 37 minutes and hit 60% of his shots. “Even though we are in our first year of Division I, it would have been hard for us to lose to a Division II team,” Chevalier said.