Reserves Arrive Too Late to Help CSUN : College basketball: Matadors get strong play from their bench but it’s not enough to overcome Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

For the third time in the last four games, Cal State Northridge was blown out early. But this time there was a silver lining to the loss.

The Northridge reserves gave the game a semblance of competitiveness before falling to Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 95-77, before 578 Monday night at Matador Gymnasium.

The Panthers (12-9) led by as many as 33 points before CSUN’s second-team players--many who have never played for such long stretches--cut the deficit to 18.

It was the fourth consecutive loss for the 7-15 Matadors and their second straight without Coach Pete Cassidy, who was admitted Friday to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center Hospital in Woodland Hills. He remains in the hospital in stable condition with an intestinal problem.

Northridge trailed, 61-35, at halftime after giving up 18 and 15 points, respectively, to Milwaukee’s Joe Schultz and Craig Greene in the first 20 minutes. Schultz finished with a game-high 24 points, making all six of his attempts from three-point range.

“I was real proud of the way we played after halftime,” said Northridge assistant coach Tom McCollum, who is directing the team in Cassidy’s absence. “At halftime I picked up a piece of chalk to go through the X’s and O’s and then I set it down. I told the guys ‘we’ve worked too hard since the beginning of school to do this to ourselves.’

“I said, ‘We gotta go out in the second half and get back to basics, play hard and do what you know.’ Two things made me proud, the fact that the reserves played with their hearts untethered and that the guys (starters) on the bench were up screaming for them.”

The Matadors were led by reserve David Keeter, who had 10 points, and freshman Peter Micelli, who scored a career-high nine.

Micelli, whose plans to redshirt went awry because of teammate Brian Kilian’s back problems, had his finest moments as a Matador in one series. He took a pass from teammate Kirk Scott, whirled and dunked at one end, then blocked a shot at the other end and recovered the loose ball.

Kyle Kerlegan, Northridge’s season scoring leader, was held to six points--half his average. He missed eight of 10 shots from three-point range and is four of 15 in three of the last four games.

CSUN could never get its offense flowing because Milwaukee’s press kept the Matadors unnerved--when Northridge was able to get the ball downcourt without having it stolen or throwing it out of bounds, that is.

McCollum credited the Matadors’ 42-point second half to the fresh legs of the reserves but noted that his players have gone 15 days without a break from practice or competition. He also suggested that the Matadors appear to be experiencing a run of bad luck, with Cassidy and starting center Todd Bowser (injured shoulder) both out of action. A flu bug is also making its way around the CSUN locker room and, as if that wasn’t enough, forward Keith Gibbs collapsed mysteriously 35 seconds into the second half.

Just as Gibbs threw a pass, he muttered, “I’m going to faint,” then he crumpled onto the floor.

Gibbs was taken by his parents to Northridge Medical Center, where he underwent a CAT scan. He was listed in stable condition with a possible concussion.

Notes

Northridge sorely missed Bowser, a 6-foot-7, 300-pound center who scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds in CSUN’s last meeting with Milwaukee, a 78-63 loss last month. Bowser, who has missed the past two games with a partially dislocated right shoulder, will have the shoulder X-rayed today. . . .

It was a homecoming of sorts for Milwaukee Coach Steve Antrim, a former Pepperdine player . . . . CSUN point guard Andre Chevalier started each half but was limited to 25 minutes because of nagging hip and ankle injuries and teammate Percy Fisher was able to play despite a severe case of the flu. . . .