Northridge Misses Freebies and Pays Price in Overtime, 72-65

The Cal State Northridge basketball team will take its positive feelings wherever it can get them these days.

Even in a loss.

The Matadors played their most-inspired game of the season Saturday night at Southern Utah.

Northridge had a two-point lead in the final seconds of regulation, but Reggie Ingram tied it on a spinning 12-footer with four seconds left and the Thunderbirds won the American West Conference game, 72-65, in overtime.

Some 4,188 fans watched Southern Utah avoid what would have been only its 18th loss in 11 seasons at the Centrum.

“I’m very proud of the guys,” said Northridge Coach Pete Cassidy. “They battled and fought and hung in there against a good team on the road.”

Northridge (4-14, 0-1 in conference play) could have given itself some insurance before Ingram’s shot when Robert Hill was at the line for two free throws with 19 seconds remaining. Hill, who had shot only 12 free throws all season and none Saturday night, missed both.

The Thunderbirds (10-8, 1-0) called time out with 11 seconds to go. They then set up Ingram to go one on one against Hill. When Ingram swished the acrobatic shot, it brought back ugly memories for the Matadors of last year’s AWC tournament final, when Ingram made a 10-footer with six seconds remaining to give the Thunderbirds an 83-82 victory.

In overtime, Northridge trailed, 66-65, when point guard Trenton Cross slipped and turned the ball over with 1:43 left. The Thunderbirds’ Jim Crosby drilled a three-pointer at the other end to push the lead to four.

After that, Northridge could not score and the Thunderbirds didn’t put the ball in the hands of the players the Matadors wanted to foul.

In the final analysis, the Matadors were happy with their performance.

“We put forth a hell of an effort,” Cross said. “The most-important thing is we keep this up for the rest of the year.”

Cross and Gray each scored 16 points and Tom Samson added 12 points and nine rebounds.

Although the Matadors’ usual problems--lack of an inside game and forced shots from outside--were present in the first half, Northridge’s hustle and Southern Utah’s chilly outside shooting kept the Matadors in the game. They trailed, 25-22, at halftime.