CS Northridge Finds Comfort in Sacramento : College basketball: Amid familiarity, Matadors defeat hapless Hornets, 84-67, for fourth victory.

When a team hasn’t played a game at home for as long as Cal State Northridge, it takes familiarity where it can be found.

Cal State Sacramento’s gym is built similarly to Northridge’s, and Saturday night it even further resembled the Matadors’ home haunt.

Right there in the bleachers, cordoning off a reserved seating area, was yellow tape with black lettering that read: Crime Scene Do Not Cross.

Buildings have been Northridge draped in the stuff since the Jan. 17 earthquake, and the Matadors seemed to take to the familiar surroundings, routing Sacramento, 84-67.

Led by Andre Chevalier and getting a much-needed boost from Brent Lofton off the bench, Northridge turned a close game in a runaway in the second half.

The Matadors (4-14) were ahead by only five points with 12 minutes 22 seconds to play, but they blew the game open with a 15-1 run.

“When they caught us they hit two or three (three-point baskets),” Northridge guard Brooklyn McLinn said, “and they’re a bunch of non-shootin’ dudes, so I knew that wasn’t going to keep going.”

Right he was. After Vincent Stewart scored on a dunk to trim Northridge’s lead to 50-45, the Hornets (1-20) missed their next 12 shots, going 8:39 without a field goal.

Northridge stayed in a zone for most of the game, content to let Sacramento fire from the perimeter. The strategy worked. The Hornets were five of 24 from three-point range and made six fewer field goals than the Matadors on 14 more attempts.

Chevalier paced the Matadors with 21 points and seven assists as Northridge snapped a four-game losing streak and won its second road game of the season. Lofton scored 14 points on seven of eight shooting and grabbed nine rebounds in 23 minutes.

McLinn added 16 points for the Matadors, who led by as many as 25 late in the second half. McLinn, a senior, also had five steals and set a Northridge record for three-point baskets by sinking the 122nd of his career.

Northridge committed 23 turnovers, but Sacramento made 26, including several that were unforced. The Hornets did, however, hold a 43-38 rebounding edge, including a 22-10 margin on the offensive boards.

Sacramento held its own in the lane, but outside the Hornets were stone cold. Take away the five three-point baskets and Sacramento made only three shots from outside the paint.

The Matadors, as usual, tried a zone defense early. For one of the few times this season, it was consistently effective. Sacramento shot only 34.2%.

“We were going to test the water with it and see what happened,” Northridge Coach Pete Cassidy said. “It worked, so we stayed with it.”

Damone Williams led the Hornets with 19 points. Michael Boyd, a freshman from Gardena, added 18 points. Williams, who made eight of 16 shots, was the only Sacramento player to shoot 50% or better.

Meanwhile, Northridge had an unusually strong shooting night. The Matadors shot 52.5%, making slightly more than half of their attempts in each half.

“I’m not really too excited,” Chevalier said. “We play Cal on Monday. If we beat them, you’ll see happiness then.”