Northridge Shocked by Sacramento

What looks good on a chalkboard does not always translate into success in a basketball game.

Such was the latest lesson learned by Cal State Northridge.

Matador Coach Pete Cassidy preaches a two-pronged offensive attack, and against Cal State Sacramento on Saturday night in Hornet Gym he saw his strategy unfold just like it’s drawn up. With one major flaw:

Northridge couldn’t make a shot.

Sacramento, a team that can relate to shooting woes, snapped out of a near season-long slump to pump in 45.3% of their field-goal tries against the Matadors. That’s a decent figure for most college teams, but for the Hornets it was their second-best mark of the season.

And it resulted in their second victory, 63-60.

Something about Northridge must bring out the best in Sacramento. Only three times this season have the Hornets out-shot an opponent, and only three times have they made more than 43% of their field-goal attempts.

Twice they have achieved both against Northridge.

Northridge (9-15) escaped with a seven-point victory in the first meeting between the teams, but the Matadors did themselves in during the rematch. The Matadors shot 39.6% for the game and were 0 for 13 from three-point range in the second half as Sacramento (2-22) sagged inside in order to slow Matador forward Chris Yard.

Yard scored a personal-high 22 points, but only seven came in the second half as the Hornets chose to double and even triple-team him.

“They were collapsing on him and he kicks it back out like he’s supposed to and we just couldn’t make the shots,” Northridge Coach Pete Cassidy said.

Sacramento’s sudden shooting prowess also spread to the free-throw line where the Hornets--65% from the line as a team--made eight out of 10 in the final two minutes.

Northridge had one final chance to force overtime when Sacramento’s Major Whitlock, a 79% free-throw shooter--missed two tries with six seconds left.

The Matadors called timeout with three seconds remaining and on the in-bound play Peter Micelli’s baseball-style pass connected with Andre Chevalier. But Chevalier’s fall-away three-point attempt hit the back of the rim.

Chevalier, Northridge’s leading scorer, was held under double figures for the second consecutive game. And for the same reason: foul trouble.

Northridge’s junior point guard had to be replaced after picking up his third personal foul less than seven minutes into the game--lasting only slightly longer than he did Thursday against Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

He sat out the rest of the first half and was held to only three points until scoring six points in the game’s final 23 seconds on two length-of-the-court drives for layups and a pair of free throws.

Chevalier blamed his lack of scoring on his hands being tied at the defensive end. “When you can’t go hard all the way on one end, you end up not going hard all the way on the other end,” he said. “My defense, I guess, must loosen me up for offense.”

Brooklyn McLinn and James Morris, the other Northridge guards, didn’t have such an excuse. McLinn was three of 10--two of seven from three-point range--and Morris was four of 13--one of seven from three-point range.

“It’s frustrating,” Cassidy said. “It’s hard to watch those shots not go down when you’re getting the ball inside like we were and getting open shots. What was suppose to happen was happening. We just didn’t make the shots.”