Northridge Kicks Sand in the Face of Undefeated Long Beach, 64-58 : Basketball: After three consecutive defeats, Matadors rally for victory in final minutes.

The old gymnasium was shaking Tuesday night, and for the first time in a while it wasn’t from an earthquake.

This time, the Cal State Northridge basketball team provided the excitement.

The Matadors (1-3), the kids who couldn’t shoot straight, upset previously unbeaten Cal State Long Beach, 64-58, before 759 fans in the Northridge gym.

Yep, that crash you heard simply was Long Beach’s ego going splat.

“We’re just not very good right now,” Long Beach Coach Seth Greenberg said.

Seems like the 49ers rarely are when they play at Northridge.

Two years ago, a three-point basket with four seconds left in overtime gave Northridge an upset over Long Beach soon after the 49ers had knocked off top-ranked Kansas.

Greenberg remembers. “ Deja vu ,” he said.

This time the three-point shot came with more than three minutes left in regulation. Similar result.

The final spread was six points, but Robert Hill’s three-point basket--an off-balance shot from 30-feet out as the shot clock expired--was unquestionably the difference.

“It was a good-luck shot,” Hill admitted.

Hill’s basket pulled Northridge to within 54-53, and swung momentum in the Matadors’ favor with 3:19 to play.

“If any one shot had a major role, it would have to be that one,” Northridge Coach Pete Cassidy said.

“(The 49ers) were playing great defense. That had to be discouraging for them, and it was certainly a big lift for us.”

A dunk by Mike Dorsey and two free throws by Ryan Martin in the final 16 seconds gave Northridge its margin of victory. Dorsey finished with 12 points and Martin added 10.

Hill’s game was more than a one-shot deal.

Matched against ball-hawking Rasul Salahuddin, Hill responded with 16 points, including four in the final 1:12.

His leaning 10-foot baseline jumper gave Northridge a temporary lead, 58-56, and his two free throws with 45 seconds remaining gave the Matadors a 60-58 edge, an advantage they held.

Salahuddin, a junior from New York by way of Dixie, Utah, met his average of five steals, prompting him to cast a few tongue-wagging taunts in Hill’s direction.

Hill’s play earned him the last word. He outscored Salahuddin by 10 points and committed only two turnovers to his opponent’s seven.

“He did a great job,” Cassidy said. “He’s not a flashy guy who is going to blow by people with whirly-dirly things. He’s a blue-collar guy. He’ll get the job done his way.”

Northridge got a similar effort from Shane O’Doherty, who scored seven points, grabbed six rebounds and drew a couple of charging fouls in 21 minutes as a front-court reserve.

Mike Atkinson paced Long Beach (2-1) with 13 points and eight rebounds. Terrance O’Kelley and Jamie Davis each added 10 points. After shooting only 35% in each of its first three games, Northridge shot 49%, including 55% in the second half.

The Matadors led at the half, 30-26, despite 15 turnovers. Long Beach quickly erased that deficit by making its first five shots of the second half--including a pair of three-point buckets by O’Kelley.

Soon thereafter, the 49ers went cold. Long Beach made only one basket in the final 9:53, a layup by Atkinson with 3:57 to play. Northridge couldn’t capitalize because it couldn’t hit a free throw.

In a six-minute stretch late in the game, the Matadors missed six of seven free throws. However, in the last three minutes, Northridge sank its last seven.

Long Beach led by as many as seven points before Northridge closed in on Hill’s desperation shot.

Long Beach, picked third and fourth in two preseason Big West Conference polls, has provided Northridge with big boosts in its last two visits to Northridge.

“When I’m 0-and-forever, it’s very big,” Cassidy said of the victory. “It’s a springboard, something that says, we can.”

Cassidy seemed to directly respond to Greenberg’s comment about Long Beach playing poorly when he said, “Our kids played great defense when it counted, got rebounds when it counted and hit shots when it counted.

“For this time, on this night, we were the better team.”