No Bumps in the Road as Northridge Completes Montana Sweep, 74-65

Winning on the road has put 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 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--went 2-0 in Montana for the first time since joining the Big Sky in 1996 while improving its conference road mark to 4-1. 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 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 outrebounded, 45-29, made it look easy against the Grizzlies (7-11, 2-5), who were the Big Sky’s regular-season champions 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 to lead four Northridge players in double figures. 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.

“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.”