Northridge Wins in Overtime, 89-85

Cal State Northridge is well past the stage where it will sneak up on anyone during the nonconference portion of its schedule. No coach worth his sneaker contract will let his team take the Matadors lightly, and they will be faced with new challenges as the season progresses.

The Matadors came through on several counts Friday night, defeating Kent State, 89-85, in overtime in the semifinals of the Blue and Gold Coca Cola Classic. The Matadors (4-1) will face Marquette (2-1) in tonight’s championship game at 6 p.m. PDT. The host school scored the first 18 points and went on to defeat Centenary, 66-47, in the other semifinal.

The Matadors had terrific starts at the outset of both halves and--most important--the start of overtime. The Matadors, outrebounded in three of their first four games, dominated Kent State (2-2) on the boards, 41-24. They blew an 11-point, second-half lead and trailed by four in the final minute of regulation. Lastly, they finally won an overtime game after going 0-3 last season, including the final of the Big Sky Conference tournament that kept them out of the NCAA tournament.

John Burrell bailed out the Matadors with a clutch three-point basket from the left wing with 2.7 seconds to send the game into overtime.

“The thing that pleased me most about that possession was that John shot it after three other guys passed up open looks at it,” Cal State Northridge Coach Bobby Braswell said. “That’s a good sign for our team. Everybody knows that when John gets his feet set like that he doesn’t miss many.”

The Matadors started the overtime with a basket by Jeff Parris and two free throws by Brian Heinle and never trailed.

“I’m very proud of our guys,” Braswell said. “Our guys showed a lot of composure and a lot of persistence and didn’t give up. We were down four points with under a minute to go. The guys just did not quit.”

Burrell had a season-high 21 points. Parris, limited to 26 minutes because of foul trouble, still had 26 points on 10-of-12 shooting and added a team-high eight rebounds. Heinle just missed a triple-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.

The Matadors, thanks in large part to making five of their first six field-goal attempts at the start of each half, shot 54.9% for the game.