Northern Arizona Defeats Northridge by 17 in Overtime

The comeback came by beating all odds.

Cal State Northridge battled the thin air of high altitude, the hot air of courtside hecklers and a 20-point deficit to force overtime Saturday night against Northern Arizona.

The collapse came by beating themselves.

The Matadors dissolved into a nightmarish flood of foolish fouls, poor shot selection and porous defense, resulting in a runaway 96-79 defeat before 2,150 in a Big Sky Conference opener at the Walkup Skydome.

Northern Arizona (9-3), the two-time defending Big Sky champion, exhibited more poise and patience in overtime than Northridge (8-5) to secure their fifth consecutive victory and 20th in a row at home.

“We’ve had success in overtime and even though we’d lost a big lead, we knew it was a new game,” Northern Arizona Coach Ben Howland said.

Ross Land, one of the nation’s top three-point shooters, made a three-point basket from the top of the key in the opening seconds of overtime, and quickly Northridge was in the familiar position of trailing.

The Matadors did not handle it well, rushing shots and making only two of nine in overtime.

“That’s our easy-way-out offense,” Northridge Coach Bobby Braswell said. “Take quick shots, put up three-pointers.”

Losing patience isn’t wise against the Lumberjacks. Northern Arizona led the nation in shooting percentage the past two seasons and is shooting 53.7% this season.

The Lumberjacks made 30 of 52 shots against Northridge, including five of seven in overtime when they outscored the Matadors, 21-4.

“We were running and running to get back in the game, and when Land hit that three we were right back in the comeback mode,” Northridge guard Carl Holmes said. “Then the fatigue factor set in.”

While catching their breath, the Matadors became distracted by courtside hecklers who spun silly puns off their names. Several players responded by talking back, grinning or glaring.

“I can’t speak for my teammates, but I should have ignored [the hecklers] and I didn’t,” said forward Rico Harris, who led Northridge in scoring with 21 points.