After Blowing Lead, Northridge Wins on Martin’s Shot, 65-64

It was an uncomfortable, albeit familiar situation for Cal State Northridge on Wednesday night. The Matadors had blown another lead on the road.

With its fans roaring, Montana State seemed poised to rally for a victory just as Eastern Washington did to Northridge earlier this season, and Washington and St. Mary’s did last season.

But this time the Matadors didn’t go home heartbroken.

Taking aim at a basket he described as 10-feet wide, Ryan Martin drained an 18-foot baseline jump shot with 22 seconds left, giving Northridge a 65-64 nonconference win over the Bobcats.

R.J. Belton’s 14-footer with two seconds to play glanced off the front of the rim, securing the Matadors’ sixth win on the road since they moved to Division I in 1990.

“We’re so used to having it go down to the end and not having it go our way,” Martin said. “This time we believed in ourselves.”

Northridge (3-7) led by as many as 14 points, 53-39, with 15 minutes 44 seconds to play, but an 8 1/2-minute field-goal scoring drought enabled the Bobcats of the Big Sky Conference to regain the lead.

“I really feel in my heart about our guys,” Northridge Coach Pete Cassidy said. “To withstand a big run. To have the courage, the heart, and the mental toughness to hang on and come back with a victory.”

With the shot clock at 15 seconds, Brooklyn McLinn drove the lane, found himself double-teamed by the player guarding Martin, and flicked a pass out to Martin whose quick release had thwarted Montana State (3-6) the entire game.

The sophomore from Huntington Beach hit seven of eight shots, including five from three-point range, for a personal-high 21 points.

In one stretch in the first half, Martin, McLinn and Anthony Moten combined for five consecutive three-point baskets. With Andre Chevalier adding a pair of three-pointers, the foursome hit nine of 11 three-pointers in the late stages of the half to give Northridge a 41-32 lead.

Montana State defensed the Matadors’ three-point shooting--Northridge finished 12 of 24 from long distance--more tightly in the second half and abandoned its own ill-advised perimeter bombing. By going inside to post players with a distinct advantage in size and athletic ability, the Bobcats improved their field-goal shooting from 42% to 65% and cut into the Matador lead.

Chevalier ended the drought with a layup that kept the Matadors ahead, 60-57, with 4:32 to play. After a foul shot by Montana State, Chris Yard missed a layup off a feed from Chevalier and the Bobcats tied the score, 60-60, on their ensuing possession.

Belton countered a basket by Moten with an 18-foot shot. Chevalier hit one of two free throws to make it 63-62, but the Bobcats took the lead on Art Menefee’s two-footer with 59 seconds left.

McLinn’s decision to drive, something he would not have done last season, enabled Martin to get open for the ensuing game-winner.

“That is something I’ve been working on,” McLinn said. “The coaching staff and the guys on the bench have confidence in me. They were saying, ‘penetrate.’ They weren’t telling me to give it back to Andre.”