Northridge Finally Breaks Out in a Battle of the Defeated : College basketball: Matadors win their first game, 66-64, with four late free throws as Central Michigan dips to 0-4.

It was not pretty or, for that matter, particularly satisfying.

But Cal State Northridge is in no position to get picky.

The Matadors’ first victory after four losses came Saturday night in the consolation game of the Southwest Missouri State Classic, 66-64, over Central Michigan.

Much as they might be tempted, they will not throw it back.

“It was ugly, but we’ll take it,” guard Brooklyn McLinn said.

Four free throws--two each by Andre Chevalier and Shawn Stone--in the final 4.4 seconds gave Northridge the victory. After Stone made two with 0.3 seconds remaining to put the Matadors up by four, Rob DeCook scored for Central Michigan at the buzzer.

Northridge shot only 43.4% from the field, but the Matadors converted 15 of 19 free-throw tries.

“I’m happy we won just to get the monkey off,” McLinn said, “but I’m not as happy as I thought I’d be. We have a long way to go.”

Northridge led by as many as seven points in the second half, but Central Michigan made up most of the deficit in a two-minute stretch.

The Chippewas scored on four consecutive trips down the floor--three layups and a short jumper.

McLinn attributed the lapse to poor concentration.

“They were lobbing (the ball) over the top and there was no help from the back side,” he said. “It’s everybody’s fault. When we got that lead, we started to play not to lose instead of just staying in a flow.”

Central Michigan, which fell to 0-4, held a 60-58 advantage with less than two minutes to go when Chevalier ignited Northridge with the defensive play of the game. He batted the ball away from Lacy Jones and into the hands of Matador forward Brent Lofton.

Lofton quickly passed back to Chevalier, who was driving for a layup when he was sent sprawling by DeCook.

The foul sent Chevalier, Northridge’s best free-throw shooter, to the line for two shots. Because the foul was ruled intentional, the Matadors also maintained possession after their senior point guard converted both tries to tie the score, 60-60, with 1:33 remaining.

Northridge had a chance to recapture the lead seven seconds later, but Lofton missed two free-throw attempts. Central Michigan could not convert, either, on its next possession when DeCook misfired on a three-point try.

Then Lofton, a junior transfer from Utah State, was ushered back to the free-throw line with 23 seconds left.

Having missed his previous three attempts, Lofton calmly waited during a timeout, then converted both tries. He said thoughts of his previous misses didn’t cross his mind while he was waiting. “I didn’t want to think anything but positive things,” Lofton said.

Two free throws by Torrey Mills with 8.2 seconds left tied the score, 62-62. Lofton quickly connected with Chevalier on a halfcourt baseball pass and the 6-foot senior drove the lane to draw a foul on Mills.

After Chevalier sank both shots, Central Michigan called time out to set up an ill-fated attempt at a quick score.

Corey Henderson, inbounding from the baseline, had his soft lob pass--Northridge Coach Pete Cassidy called it “a dying quail”--intercepted by Lofton near midcourt.

Lofton passed to Stone, who was hacked with less than a second left.

“I felt all day today a sense of urgency,” McLinn said. “I felt like we had to win now.”

Central Michigan shot 60% and outrebounded the Matadors by seven in the second half, but Cassidy predicted the victory will work wonders for Northridge’s confidence.

“They should be anxious and excited to play the next game,” Cassidy said. “Any time your kids are excited to play--and winning brings that about--it’s a big-time plus.”

McLinn made four of six three-point attempts and scored 14 points. Peter Micelli scored a game-high 15 points for the Matadors and Chris Yard added 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.