Minor’s Shot Is Long, Matadors Come Up Short

Cal State Northridge guard Greg Minor drove into the lane and got off a shot. The crowd of 5,466 mostly Weber State fans let out a gasp.

The ball hit the heel of the rim, and fell away as time expired, leaving the Matadors on the short end of a 70-69 Big Sky Conference men’s basketball game Saturday night at the Dee Events Center.

“I should have made the shot,” Minor said. “I had a good look at the basket. This is a tough loss because it was a game we could have won. It would have put us on a nice little roll.”

Before Minor’s miss, Northridge (6-10, 2-4 in conference play) pieced together its best defensive stretch of the season, overcoming injuries to guards Carl Holmes and Trenton Cross to rally from a nine-point deficit.

The Matadors held Weber State without a point for more than seven minutes, turning a 49-40 deficit into a 52-49 lead with 9:30 to play. A basket on an offensive rebound by Brian Heinle 30 seconds later gave Northridge its biggest lead, 54-50.

Weber State (7-9, 5-1), which had won four in a row by margins of 10 or greater, came back on two baskets after offensive rebounds, and the lead changed hands nine times in the last six minutes.

“We had a chance to build on our lead and we didn’t make our free throws,” Northridge Coach Bobby Braswell said. “We played the best man-to-man defense we’ve played all year and put ourselves in a position to win in front of a hostile crowd against a hot team.”

Mike O’Quinn made one of two free throws for a 67-66 Northridge lead with 2:41 to play, and after a layup by Weber State’s Damien Baskerville, Jeff Parris dunked and was fouled. Parris missed the free throw and Northridge led, 69-68.

A furious scramble for the rebound on Parris’ miss resulted in several players diving to the floor and O’Quinn being called for a foul. Baskerville made both free throws with 1:20 to play.

“It was a tough call and you have to live with it,” O’Quinn said. “I feel it should have been a jump ball, but the ref had a different angle.”

A jump ball would have given Northridge possession. Instead, the Matadors’ last possession began with 30 seconds left after Parris hounded Baskerville into a turnover.

Braswell called time out with 20 seconds to play and Weber State’s Alex Fisher knocked a pass out of bounds with nine seconds left. O’Quinn took the inbounds pass, dribbled to the top of the key and passed to Minor, who shot from about eight feet.

“I was concerned that they would dribble-drive and post-up,” Weber State Coach Ron Abegglen said. “We showed man-to-man, then jumped back into a zone. It worked out good for us.”

O’Quinn scored 14 points for Northridge, Jabari Simmons added 13 and Heinle had 10, the freshman center’s highest output in 13 games.

Andy Jensen had 13 points and 15 rebounds, helping the Wildcats outrebound Northridge, 38-30.

Matador notes

Guard Carl Holmes strained his right knee early in the game and played only 17 minutes, scoring six points. Trenton Cross hurt his back midway through the second half and did not return. . . . Weber State is tied with Montana State for the Big Sky lead. Northridge is seventh in the nine-team conference. . . . Weber State Coach Ron Abegglen has a record of 72-12 at the Dee Events Center.