CSUN Narrowly Loses to the University of San Francisco, 61-65

PDF Box Score

En Español

San Francisco, CA – In a back-and-forth game, the CSUN Matadors (2-7) narrowly lost to the University of San Francisco Dons (5-4), 61-65, on Monday night at War Memorial at The Sobrato Center.

Three Matadors scored in double figures on the night and sophomore Tavrion Dawson led the team in scoring, notching his first career double-double (19 points, 11 rebounds). Sophomore Micheal Warren and senior Landon Drew scored 11 apiece and senior Olalekan Ajayi came through with 10 rebounds and six points.

Senior Tre Hale-Edmerson inched closer to the CSUN all-time steals list, grabbing one to put him one away from 10^th place. He also scored eight points and had seven boards.

"I thought we played really well in stretches, but they scored 19 points off of our turnovers," said Head Coach Reggie Theus. "I commend our guys for the way they played in a lot of situations, but in the end we just didn't make the plays down the stretch that we needed to win, defensively and offensively."

It was an aggressive game and the quick pace was set from the start. The Matadors won the opening tip to get the game started and Drew scored the first basket of the game, which was quickly followed by a Warren 3-pointer and an Ajayi dunk to put the Matadors up 7-2.

Dawson was then blocked at the basket three times in a row before he hit a 3-pointer on the same possession to keep CSUN's lead, at 10-6.

The Matadors stayed on top until about 10 minutes in, but kept it close throughout.

In the first half, key free throws by Warren, a dunk by Hale-Edmerson and a Dawson and one narrowed the score to within two points each time. CSUN went to the locker room trailing 26-29.

A dunk by Warren got things moving in the second half, and he hit a layup shortly thereafter to put the Matadors on top, 32-30. The Dons quickly pulled ahead, but Dawson hit a jumper to tie it yet again, this time at 37 with about 11 minutes left.

USF pulled away, but layups by Warren and Dawson chipped away at the lead, and then a 3 by Dawson again pulled the Matadors within one. The Dons stayed ahead by a narrow margin until Drew hit his second 3 of the game to tie the game at 47.

CSUN fought hard for the rest of the game, but the Dons were victorious by a narrow two-basket margin. CSUN battled over the final minute of the game and a three-point play by Dawson pulled the Matadors within two with 15 seconds left, but it wasn't enough. USF came back at the free throw line to make the final score 61-65.

Senior guard Tim Derksen led the Dons on the night, scoring 17 points, nine on 3-pointers. Sophomore guard Devin Watson also contributed 13 points and junior guard Uche Ofoegbu scored 12. Ofoegbu also led the team in rebounds (9).

The Matadors shot 26 percent in the first half, but came back in the second half to hit 61 percent. On the night, they were 10-for-14 at the free throw line.

CSUN has 10 days off before traveling to Portland to take on Portland State on Thursday, December 17.

PHOTO GALLERY:

(12/8/2015) MBB 120715 at USF

CSUN Narrowly Loses to the University of San Francisco, 61-65

Next Event

Team Stats

Tavrion Dawson

Micheal Warren

Landon Drew

Tre Hale-Edmerson

Players Mentioned

Olalekan Ajayi

Tavrion Dawson

Tre Hale-Edmerson

Micheal Warren