California State University Northridge Athletics
California State University at Northridge
6-16, 2-5BWC
Hawai''i
15-7, 3-3BWC
Matadors Defeated By Hawai'i 84-73
1/30/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
En Español
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. -
Despite career highs for Stephen Maxwell and Aaron Parks, the CSUN Matadors (6-16, 2-5 Big West) were defeated by the Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors (15-7, 3-3 Big West) 84-73 in a Big West game on Thursday night at The Matadome. Maxwell matched a personal best with 28 points and set a career mark with 17 rebounds while Aaron Parks scored 21 points for the first time as a Matador.
Stephan Hicks hit a pair of free throws in the first half to become the Big West Conference's All-Time Leader in the category, passing former NBA player Lucious Harris (Long Beach State) with 550. Harris was a major contributor when the CSUN men's program built its current locker room under former head coach Bobby Braswell, who coached Harris at Cleveland High School and LBSU.
"We aren't good enough to play on our heels and we started the game off with probably four or five misses around the basket. They hit a couple of threes and now we're behind," said CSUN head coach Reggie Theus. "We beat them in the second half but we spotted them 16 points. We got it down to four points but couldn't get over the hump, which has a lot to do with bodies on the bench."
The Rainbow Warriors led wire-to-wire on the night after scoring a layup on the first possession of the game. Points in the paint and at the free-throw line helped CSUN stay close during the early parts of the contest as the team brought a 10-point deficit down to two after a basket by Parks with 7:13 to go in the first half.
However, Hawai'i responded with a 10-0 that included eight points around the rim to open up a 37-25 advantage. Taelin Webb's highlight-reel dunk got CSUN within 10 late but with seconds remaining in the half, Garrett Nevels hit a 3-pointer to put the visitors ahead 50-34 going into the locker room.
The Matadors were able to string together stronger possessions in the second half but the gap was too large to overcome. After trailing by as many as 17 points, CSUN went on a 14-3 run engineered by Maxwell and Parks in addition to baskets by Tre Hale-Edmerson and Devonte Elliott.
Over the next five minutes Hawai'i shifted the momentum again, outscoring CSUN 16-9 to rebuild its lead to 15 points. While the Matadors outscored the Rainbow Warriors 39-34 in the second half, they did not get closer than nine points the rest of the way.
Maxwell scored 28 points for the second time at CSUN, matching a career high set against Morgan State in 2013. He also bested his single-game rebound total by two en route to his 38th career double-double.
Parks beat his previous high of 19 points set against Hawai'i in 2014 at The Matadome. He went 7-for-13 from the field and 6-for-9 at the free-throw line.
Elliott also finished in double figures with 10 points in 20 minutes of play. Hale-Edmerson and Landon Drew led the way with five assists each.
The Matadors will hit the road for their next game and make a short drive to UC Riverside to take on the Highlanders on Saturday night at SRC Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.
Related Video - Webb's Dunk
