Higgins’ Tip Lifts Northridge

Derrick Higgins tipped in a missed shot with one second to play, allowing Cal State Northridge to escape with a 79-77 victory over Idaho State in a Big Sky Conference game Monday night at Northridge.

Higgins, a senior guard, was told by assistant coach Mike Johnson during a timeout with seven seconds to play to crash the boards. Rico Harris missed a fall-away shot and Higgins beat two Idaho State players to the ball.

“It was good to get a win like that,” Higgins said. “I knew that if [Harris] missed, I was going to make it.”

Northridge (9-5, 1-1) lost all of a 49-36 halftime lead in the first five minutes of the second half. The Bengals (2-10, 0-2) shot 56.4% in the game, 62.1% in the second half and were led by Kevin Sweetwyne’s 30 points.

“We didn’t play great tonight, but it was good to find a way to win,” Northridge Coach Bobby Braswell said. “We’ve never been on the winning end of close ones in the past two years. We didn’t lose our composure.”

Carl Holmes, last season’s Big Sky freshman of the year, continued to bounce back from a prolonged shooting slump, scoring a season-high 25 points for Northridge. Holmes made six of nine three-point shots, including one with three minutes to play that gave Northridge a 75-74 lead.