Northridge Makes Road a Bit Easier

Winning on the road has placed Cal State Northridge in the driver’s seat in the Big Sky Conference race.

The Matadors did it again Saturday night, completing their second two-game sweep away from home this season with a 74-65 victory over Montana before 4,065 at Adams Center.

Northridge (13-8, 6-2 in the Big Sky), which won at Montana State, 72-65, Thursday night, went 2-0 in Montana for the first time since joining the Big Sky in 1996 and is 4-1 in conference road games. The Matadors were 3-5 away from home in conference last season.

Northridge, picked to win the Big Sky, remained in a first-place tie with Weber State, a 70-64 winner Saturday night at Eastern Washington.

“This has always been a tough trip for us,” Northridge Coach Bobby Braswell said. “The normal fan doesn’t understand how hard it is to win on the road, especially in conference. Crowds get into it. We showed a lot of desire.”

The Matadors, despite being out-rebounded, 45-29, made it look easy against the Grizzlies (7-11, 2-5), who are 7-3 at home this season and were the Big Sky’s regular-season champion last year.

Northridge took the lead for good at 13-10 and extended the margin to 10 points in the second half.

Guard Markus Carr had 17 points. Center Brian Heinle recorded his 11th double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Heinle had 17 rebounds against Montana State.

“Playing in other people’s gyms gives you a lot of experience,” Heinle said. “All of our road games have been tough.”

Guard Carl Holmes scored a season-high 13 points, making all three of his three-point shots.

One of four returning starters, Holmes said experience has made the difference this season.

“We’re a veteran group,” Holmes said. “We have a lot of guys who have been in this situation because we had a lot of close games on the road last season. Our composure on the road has been phenomenal.”

Northridge showed as much in November with a 78-74 upset of UCLA at Pauley Pavilion. The same week, the Matadors lost at UNLV, 70-69, when Heinle’s three-point shot missed at the buzzer.

Northridge’s only Big Sky loss on the road was a 76-75 setback at Northern Arizona. The Matadors are 7-7 overall on the road.

Northridge, scheduled to join the Big West Conference next season, won’t miss traveling to Montana, Braswell said. Northridge is 3-5 at Montana.

“This is just not a place where you like to play,” Braswell said. “They have great fans. I’d rather take my chances with the [UC] Riversides, where we might see some familiar faces.”

The Matadors lost at Montana in overtime, 73-70, last season before defeating the Grizzlies, 76-65, in the Big Sky tournament at Missoula.

“They are not pretenders, they’re contenders and they are probably going to be conference champions,” Montana Coach Don Holst said. “Their style is what we hate.”

The Matadors, the conference’s top-ranked defensive team, capitalized on 14 turnovers and held a conference opponent to a season-low 65 points for the second consecutive game.

Montana closed to 30-29 on Travis Greenwalt’s three-pointer as the first-half expired. An 11-4 Northridge run to start the second half quieted the Grizzlies.

Northridge held Jared Buckmaster, the Grizzlies’ leading scorer, to five points.