Northridge Finally Beats Buzzer, 79-77

The ball was tipped in for the deciding basket with one second to play . . . and Cal State Northridge didn’t lose.

For the first time in Coach Bobby Braswell’s three seasons, a last-second shot went the Matadors’ way. The player who made it, senior Derrick Higgins, has seen--and felt--all the heartbreaks.

So he could empathize with the dazed Idaho State players forlornly leaving the floor at Northridge following the Matadors’ 79-77 Big Sky Conference victory on Monday night.

But most of his thoughts were with his own team, a group beginning to form the identity of a winner. “Last year and the year before, we lost all the close games,” Higgins said. “So to pull this one out, it was huge.”

As was the advice Higgins received from assistant coach Mike Johnson during a timeout with seven seconds to play and the score tied.

“Crash the offensive boards,” Johnson told Higgins after Braswell gave instructions for forward Rico Harris to take the last shot.

Idaho State crossed up Northridge (9-5, 1-1 in conference play) by employing a man-to-man defense. Harris didn’t get the shot he wanted, clanking a fallaway off the rim. But Higgins, the Matadors’ best leaper, outjumped two Idaho State players and enabled Northridge to avoid a devastating loss.

The game never should have been close. The Bengals (2-10, 0-2) are to the Big Sky what the Cincinnati Bengals are to the NFL: Perennial losers.

And that’s the way they looked in the first half, falling behind, 49-36. Northridge appeared on its way to a triple-digit, runaway victory.

A starting lineup with four new faces--Harris, guards Jason Crowe and Carl Holmes and forward Hewitt Rolle joined Higgins--appeared to inject fire into the Matadors. Holmes scored 18 of his team-high 25 points in the half and Crowe had three of his five assists. The energy subsided in the second half--and the Bengals came out firing. The 13-point lead was gone within five minutes and the rest of the game became a frantic struggle.

“We took them for granted, yes, I think we did,” Braswell said. “We didn’t play great tonight, but it was good to find a way to win.

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

“One of their players said to me, ‘Why don’t you get in the weight room,’ ” Holmes said. “I said, ‘You’re right,’ then just made some shots.”

After Holmes’ three-pointer, Higgins made a steal that led to a layup by Crowe and a three-point lead. Stephen Brown responded for the Bengals with 2:11 to play by making a three-point shot--his only one of the game in five tries.

Harris missed two free throws, and although Higgins rebounded the second miss, he twice was unable to tip in shots and Idaho State had possession with one minute left.

A similar sequence occurred at the other end. Odell Stokes missed two free throws and although Ammer Johnson outjumped Harris for the rebound, Brown missed a three-point attempt with 44.4 seconds to play.

A hustle play by Harris enabled Higgins to bat an Idaho State pass to Crowe, who called time out with seven seconds left.

Higgins, who made a three-pointer to send Saturday’s game against Northern Arizona into overtime, had 15 points and eight rebounds.

“They came out more aggressive in the second half and I knew I had to show some leadership,” Higgins said.

Kevin Sweetwyne scored 30 points for Idaho State, which shot 56.4% in the game and 62.1% in the second half. This from a team that came in shooting 37.8%.

“We didn’t come with it tonight,” Holmes said. “Idaho State is a lot tougher than they were last year.”

Attribute the improvement to first-year Coach Doug Oliver, a Stanford assistant the past 12 seasons. But attribute this game being close to Northridge’s second-half letdown.

The Bengals had scored fewer than 70 points in every game against Division I opponents.