St. Mary’s Cuts Northridge in Half, 79-72

The law of averages caught up with Cal State Northridge, and when it did St. Mary’s raced by on its way to a 79-72 victory Monday night in a nonconference men’s basketball game before 407 spectators at the Northridge Gym.

Chris Johnson rebounded from a slow start to score a career-high 29 points as St. Mary’s (12-8) won its sixth game in a row and third on the road in five days.

Johnson, a senior reserve, made six of seven three-point attempts and scored 24 points in the second half as the Gaels quickly erased a 12-point halftime deficit.

Northridge (5-14) shot 73.9% in the first half, marksmanship that even Coach Pete Cassidy knew wouldn’t last.

“That was a freak,” said Cassidy, whose team was shooting 39% coming into the game. “It’s not realistic to duplicate that for another half.”

Reality set in quickly as St. Mary’s outscored Northridge 23-3 in the first six minutes of the second half. After making only one of his first six shots, Johnson made three in a row from beyond the three-point stripe during the run.

“They were unconscious during that period of time and we were soft in that same period,” Cassidy said.

“(Johnson) got hot for them we they needed it.”

Forward Brent Farris added support, scoring 13 of his 21 points in the second half for the Gaels.

St. Mary’s made 13 of 21 shots (61.9%) in the second half, including seven of nine three-point tries.

Northridge, meanwhile, returned to normal, shooting 40%. In the first half, the Matadors were 17 of 19, not counting four failed three-point attempts by Eric Gray.

“You knew that wasn’t going to last,” Cassidy said.

Neither did Northridge’s 40-28 lead, which was wiped out in only three and a half minutes.

A three-point basket by Northridge’s Trenton Cross with 15 seconds remaining trimmed St. Mary’s advantage to 75-72, but Farris and Johnson each converted two-shot free-throw situations in the final 14 seconds to seal the win.

Cross, a freshman from Reseda High, paced Northridge with 16 points. Mike Dorsey added 15.