Matadors Continue to Rise in Big Sky

These milestone victories must be getting boring for Cal State Northridge.

The Matadors defeated Weber State, 89-76, on Thursday night, racking up their most significant road victory of the season, climbing over the Wildcats into fifth place in the Big Sky Conference and clinching a spot in the six-team conference tournament.

But after the game, there were no screams. No taunts of the 4,324 Dee Events Center fans. Barely even a high-five.

“There was a time when these kids would be hugging each other and slamming each other into lockers, but there was none of that because these guys are used to winning now,” said Northridge Coach Bobby Braswell.

Used to winning? That might be a little strong for a team that is 11-12, 7-6 in the Big Sky and still has not been over .500.

In the short term, however, Braswell is right. His team has won three in a row, all on the road, and has its sights set beyond the conference tournament.

The letters N-C-A-A have crept into their minds.

Aw, let ‘em dream.

“We think we are going to win every game,” said guard Gerald Rhoden, “and if we do that it’s going to happen. We’ve seen everyone [in the conference] and we know that if we play the way we can play, it’s going to happen.”

Sounds crazy, but consider this: Northridge has the longest active winning streak in the conference.

The Matadors have a good shot to extend the streak to four games with a game Saturday against conference doormat Sacramento State. They finish with a game at first-place Northern Arizona and at home against Idaho State before the tournament.

“We said if we are going to start peaking, this is the time,” said Braswell, whose team equaled the program’s most victories in a season since joining Division I in 1990.

The formula for success has been similar in each of the three games.

The Matadors played solid defense, holding Weber State to 39% shooting; they got strong rebounding, a 54-39 advantage, led by Tom Samson’s 15 and Kevin Taylor’s 10; and they got 22 points from Trenton Cross.

One addition to the arsenal was Rhoden, who had scored 14 points in the last four games but came through with 20. He scored a career-high 31 in the Matadors’ first game against Weber State, but he said that was just coincidence that he had another big game against the Wildcats.

“I just said to myself, I’ve got to come out and play,” Rhoden said. “It just so happens that this was the night.

“Those last few, I don’t remember ever going through something like that. Whew.”

The Matadors broke out to a 15-7 lead on the strength of hot shooting and a 15-6 rebounding edge. The quick lead basically quieted the Weber State crowd, which has traditionally been a difficult element for opponents and has helped the Wildcats to a .782 winning percentage at the Dee Events Center.

But Northridge got a little sloppy, going 4 1/2 minutes without a basket, allowing Weber State to take a 17-15 lead.

Rhoden then picked up the Matadors, making three three-pointers in just over three minutes, and Northridge regained the lead and padded it to 29-21.

“We’ve been expecting Gerald to step up and make some shots,” Braswell said.

The Matadors made six three-pointers in the first half, allowing them to take a 35-30 lead into the locker room despite 32% shooting.

The teams traded baskets early in the second half until an 8-0 Northridge run gave the Matadors a 50-37 lead with 14:22 remaining.

As usual, Northridge’s defense sparked its offense, with two of the baskets in the run coming after steals.

Northridge shot 52% in the second half and eventually increased the lead to 16.

The Matadors gave Weber State a window to come back by missing five of six free throws during one stretch in the final three minutes, but the Wildcats never got closer than 11.

“I’d say this is a huge win for the program,” Braswell said. “When we looked at the schedule and saw five straight road games, who’d expect us to be 3-0?”