CS Northridge Blows Lead at Loyola, 71-66

According to a hoary adage, charity begins at home.

Unfortunately for the Cal State Northridge basketball team, they have played all their games on the road.

And the results of their trips are becoming frustratingly familiar.

For the second time in two weeks, the Matadors played the host team in a tournament and came away fuming.

The opponent this time was Loyola Marymount, which dropped Northridge, 71-66, in the first round of the L.A. Classic before 2,867 at Gersten Pavilion.

The Matadors (1-4) will play Stetson for third place at 6 tonight. The Hatters (0-4) dropped a 78-59 decision to Michigan State in Friday’s other first-round game.

Northridge, as it was against UC Santa Barbara in the first round of the Gauchos’ own tournament last week, was outscored at the foul line. Loyola converted 22 of 30 free throws and Northridge made 12 of 17.

Diplomacy is wearing thin.

Asked about the foul-shot discrepancy, Andre Chevalier, Northridge’s junior captain, replied: “I can’t even comment on that. I’m going to get mad. . . . Like they say, you know how it is on the road.”

Even so, all was well for the Matadors for most of the game.

When Ryan Martin scored on a layup with 11 minutes 48 seconds left, Northridge had its biggest lead, 53-43. But the Matadors didn’t score another field goal for almost seven minutes.

During that span, UCLA transfer Zan Mason led Loyola on a 14-3 run--Northridge’s only points coming on free throws by Chevalier.

It wasn’t until after a free throw by Mason put the Lions ahead, 57-56, that Northridge forward Chris Yard finally broke the Matadors’ shooting slump. His bank shot and two more free throws by Chevalier staked Northridge to a 60-57 lead with 3:35 to go.

Rahim Harris made one of two free-throw attempts to pull Loyola within a bucket and Mason converted a three-point play to put the Lions ahead, 61-60, with 3:03 remaining.

“To fritter away a lead like that is partly our fault,” Northridge Coach Pete Cassidy said. “But give credit to Loyola. Then leave the rest to your imagination.”

A three-point basket by Ross Richardson extended the Lions’ lead to 64-60 with 2:31 to play, but Loyola didn’t score another field goal.

It didn’t have to.

In the final 1:11, the Lions made seven of eight free throws.

Other than Yard’s basket, Northridge made only two other field goals in the last 11 minutes and 48 seconds--a rebound basket by James Morris and a layup by Chevalier. They came in the final 24 seconds.

“The last 10 minutes of defense was pretty darn good,” said John Olive, Loyola’s first-year coach.

Cassidy agreed. To a point.

“Loyola played very strong defense in that stretch,” he said. “A few things went their way and we couldn’t stop their momentum at that point.

“But every time we came back at them like they were coming at us, we got called for fouls. . . . Of course, I’m looking at that with biased eyes.”

Chevalier, who played all 40 minutes and scored 16 points, had a similar view.

“I was getting bumped and tripped, so I wasn’t making the shots,” he said. “But I wasn’t getting any fouls called, either.”

Earlier, it was Northridge’s defense that dominated.

After committing 11 turnovers and shooting only 34.6% in the first half, Loyola (2-1) made 14 of 21 field goals in the second stanza.

Mason, who scored his only four points of the first half from the free-throw line, made five of seven field-goal attempts in scoring 12 points in the final 20 minutes.

Morris scored a season and game-high 17 points for Northridge and was five of six on three-point attempts.

Peter Micelli and Yard each had 12 points for Northridge. Micelli grabbed nine rebounds.