Northridge Takes Road Less Traveled to Win

Two wins, 17 losses.

When the Cal State Northridge basketball team looked down the road to the end of January, that’s what stared back.

The Matadors started a string of seven consecutive road games Saturday night against UC Irvine--a team that had already defeated them at Northridge--on the Anteaters’ hardwood at the Bren Center.

Make no mistake, Irvine is not California, Notre Dame or even St. Mary’s, which Northridge visits Tuesday night.

But what the Anteaters did to the Matadors before, they figured to do again--only perhaps by an even more pronounced margin. Irvine, after all, had defeated Iowa.

It didn’t happen. Sparked by the inspired play of point guard Andre Chevalier and forward Chris Yard, Northridge snapped a 12-game road losing streak and upset Irvine, 68-66, before a crowd of 2,167.

Chevalier, playing with throbbing pain from a broken bone in his right hand, provided the difference by making a pair of free throws that put the Matadors (3-10) ahead by four points with 19.6 seconds left.

He couldn’t even enjoy the moment. It hurt too much. “(It hurt) when I was going to the hole and taking jump shots and couldn’t get full strength on the ball,” Chevalier said. “It hurt on the free throws too, but I could endure the pain because I had more time.”

Chevalier missed all of his eight shots from the field, but he made seven of nine free throws. The final two provided a cushion that barely stood up.

Khalid Channell scored after a rebound with 11.5 seconds to play to pull Irvine to within a basket.

Joe Hannon had an opportunity to provide that basket just before time ran out, but instead of putting up a wide-open shot after rebounding Chris Brown’s three-point miss, he passed out toward the perimeter.

“I just thought we were down by three,” said Hannon, who was playing in place of DeForrest Boyer, Irvine’s injured center.

Added Anteater Coach Rod Baker: “Sometimes in the heat of the moment, you don’t do the right thing.”

Irvine (4-5) had its final-second chance only because Brooklyn McLinn hit the front of the rim on two free throws with eight seconds remaining.

McLinn, almost the goat, remained a hero with Hannon’s help.

With Irvine ahead, 64-63, and 51 seconds to play, McLinn rebounded Peter Micelli’s miss and hit nothing but net on a three-point shot from just beyond the top of the key.

For McLinn, the shot marked the climax of what has been an extended shooting tear. He made four of five three-point tries, and he has made 30 of 54 in a 10-game stretch.

McLinn finished with 18 points, scoring his career-high for the third time this season. Micelli had 16 points and five rebounds.

Yard, who played about half of his 26 minutes with a hyper-extended right knee, finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Several times in the final six minutes, Yard appeared to be in excruciating pain, but as many times as Cassidy removed him from the court, he begged his way back in.