Northridge Finds Way to Clear Its Roadblock

Cal State Northridge won with ease for a change, coasting to an 86-62 Big Sky Conference men’s basketball victory over Montana State before 3,522 on Friday night at Worthington Arena.

Northridge (15-8, 7-5 in conference play), piling up penetration baskets, never trailed and built a 25-5 after 10 minutes.

By the final buzzer, every Northridge player had entered, all but two scored and the Matadors recorded their most lopsided victory this season.

For Northridge, playing its final regular-season road game, a laugher was just what the doctor ordered, especially after the sting of a 73-70 overtime loss at Montana on Thursday night.

Coach Bobby Braswell was just happy to earn a victory away from home.

“It doesn’t matter to me how much we win by, I’m just glad we got a win to show that we can win on the road,” Braswell said. “I was happy to see the guys come out with a lot of energy and play unselfishly.”

The Matadors, 6-8 away from home, play their final four games at the Matadome, beginning with a matchup with first-place Eastern Washington on Thursday night. Northridge, 9-0 at home, is tied with Weber State for third.

The Big Sky’s top six teams will compete in the conference tournament March 9-11.

Forwards Jeff Parris and Hewitt Rolle, the team’s inside forces all season, led the way, Parris scoring 17 points and Rolle 12. Marco McCain had 11 points and Carl Holmes 10.

Northridge players enjoyed the lopsided victory more than their coach.

“To win by this margin gives us a lot of confidence,” Rolle said. “After the game [Thursday] night, we were kind of upset as a team. We talked about it [Thursday] night on the bus. We said we were going to give it all we had [Friday night].”

Parris was difficult to contain beneath the basket from the start. He scored seven points, including a three-point basket, to boost the Matadors to a 15-5 lead.

Northridge capitalized on cold shooting by the Bobcats (12-14, 4-9), who made only two of their first 10 shots and finished 23 of 57.

“[Against Montana], we didn’t do enough penetrating,” Parris said. “We did a lot of standing around. [Friday night], the holes in the zone seemed bigger.

“We’re happy to be going home now. We’ll see if we can keep our streak alive.”

For Northridge, the victory completed a season sweep over Montana State, which defeated the Matadors, 91-90, last season in the opening round of the Big Sky tournament.

In that game, Northridge squandered a 47-33 halftime lead and lost in the final seconds.

This time, Northridge took a 42-26 lead at halftime and the Matadors weren’t about to look back.