The Day After His Father’s Death, Northridge’s Braswell Gets Win

It was a bittersweet night for Bobby Braswell.

The first-year Cal State Northridge men’s basketball coach won his first game as the Matadors routed Cal State Dominguez Hills, 77-57, Wednesday night in the regular-season home opener.

But a victory that should have been truly savored was tempered for Braswell by the death of his father, James Braswell Jr., on Tuesday.

“I wasn’t really sure if I was going to make it here tonight,” Braswell said. “My mom told me to get out of the house because I had some boys out here who were depending on me.”

The Matadors (1-1) dominated Dominguez Hills (0-3) from the tip-off and led by as many as 30 points twice in the second half.

Point guard Trenton Cross paced Northridge with 20 points and forward Gerald Rhoden scored 16 points. Center Tom Samson led all rebounders with 10.

The Toros (0-3) were led by forward Jair Fray with 21 points.

Northridge shot 54.2% (32 of 59) from the field but only 29.4% (five of 17) on three-pointers and 47.1% (eight of 17) on free throws.