Northridge Fizzles Early in 89-75 Loss

The pieces all seemed to be there for the Cal State Northridge men’s basketball team, but they failed to fit in an 89-75 loss to Southern Utah in a nonconference game before 4,998 at the Centrum on Saturday night.

Keith Gibbs, the Matadors’ leading scorer and emotional leader, was back in the starting lineup after missing Northridge’s victory over Northeastern Illinois the previous weekend to be with his family in San Jose after the death of his stepfather.

Gibbs had not played since Northridge’s victory over Loyola Marymount on Feb. 18, and the layoff showed as he and his teammates sputtered on offense and played little defense in the first half.

Northridge (11-16) trailed, 46-29, at intermission after shooting 30% from the field (nine of 30). Conversely, Southern Utah made 17 of 27 field goals (63%).

The defense became so porous that Southern Utah made five consecutive layups to end the first half and began the second half with another layup.

“That was one of the three worst halves of the season, and I don’t remember the other two,” Northridge Coach Pete Cassidy said. “We didn’t shoot well and we allowed Davor Marcelic to go to his left and (Dana) Achtzehn to go to his right, and we can’t let them do that to us.”

Marcelic, who must salivate like one of Pavlov’s dogs at the mention of Northridge’s name, scored a game-high 35 points, including 20 in the first half. He scored a season-high 36 against the Matadors in a 90-76 victory at Northridge earlier this season and a career-high 43 against CSUN last season.

Achtzehn had 23 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for Southern Utah (19-8).

“We just weren’t in sync in the first half,” point guard Andre Chevalier said. “We were running around in circles. We were forcing shots instead of just relaxing and taking our time.”

Chevalier scored a career-high 22 points and Gibbs added 16, but the Matadors dug themselves too big of a hole.

Trailing, 51-31, early in the second half, Northridge narrowed the deficit to 65-58 with 9 minutes 36 seconds left but could get no closer.

Northridge pulled to within 73-65 on Percy Fisher’s basket with 7:01 left, but the Matadors turned the ball over four times and missed two other shots--including an air ball by James Morris--on their next six possessions.

“I’m happy with the way this team came back in the second half,” Cassidy said. “But we were terrible in the first half. That was not the team that I’ve seen in the last couple of months.”

Gibbs concurred.

“I wasn’t completely focused at the start of the game, and I’m not in good shape because of the time away,” he said.