COLLEGE BASKETBALL / SOUTHLAND

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 97, CS Northridge 88--Matador Coach Bobby Braswell probably could have found a few choice adjectives to offer about the officiating after his team lost in overtime in a nonconference game before 2,814 at San Luis Obispo.

In a see-saw battle that turned one-sided only after regulation ended at 77-77, Cal Poly (3-2) shot 49 free throws to the Matadors’ 15, making 36.

Northridge shot three free throws to the Mustangs’ 24 in the first half.

After the game, it was obvious Braswell wasn’t pleased with the men with whistles around their necks. But he was even less pleased with his team’s performance.

“Look at those free-throw statistics,” Braswell said. “I mentioned it to [the officials] at halftime. They got to the free-throw line more than we did.

“But I can’t blame the officials. The bottom line is, they played like they wanted to win. Something the stat sheet doesn’t show is is hustle and effort. They wanted it more than we did.”

Northridge (2-2)--coming off an emotional 69-66 victory Tuesday night at Fresno State--appeared flat at times against smaller San Luis Obispo.

“Basically, we just didn’t do what we needed to do,” forward Jeff Parris said. “[Braswell] was concerned we were taking this game too lightly. I don’t think I was, but maybe we were.”

Northridge led for most of a fast-paced first half after taking a 3-2 lead on Parris’ three-point basket. San Luis Obispo pulled even, at 30-30 and 37-37, before taking the lead at 39-37 on a two-handed dunk by John Hoffart with 58 seconds left in the half.

Cal Poly SLO led 41-37 at the half.

The lead changed 10 times in the second half and nearly ended with a dramatic Mustang victory, but Mike Wozniak’s layup with two seconds to play bounced off the rim.

Forward Chris Bjorklund scored nine of his 30 points in overtime, including a basket and free throw that gave the Mustangs an 86-77 lead.

Cal Poly SLO certainly did more foul shooting. But Coach Jeff Schneider defended the lopsided statistics.

“We’ve just consistently gotten the ball down to the low post,” Schneider said. “We get it down there 75-80 times a game, so we’re going to draw a lot of fouls.”