Matadors Defeat Morgan State Bears, 88-74

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Northridge, CA – The CSUN Matadors (5-9) defeated the Morgan State Bears (2-11) on Saturday night in The Matadome, 88-74, in their last non-conference game of the season.

In the second game of an In-N-Out Doubleheader, sophomore Micheal Warren scored a career-high 28 points to go with a career-best nine rebounds and went 8-for-8 at the free throw line. Junior Kendall Smith scored 20 points and freshman Jason Richardson scored 10, and each had six assists. Senior Olalekan Ajayi led the team with nine boards and senior Tre Hale-Edmerson was strong on defense with five blocks, including two on consecutive attempts by the Bears in the first half.

"It's a good team win all around," said Head Coach Reggie Theus. "I thought the guys moved the basketball well and didn't hunt shots. Consequently, we didn't force 3s…in the end, getting to the line and rebounding the basketball were key in the second half."

Two early 3-pointers by Smith and sophomore Jerron Wilbut, who was making his Matadome debut, put the Matadors on top to start the night, 6-4. The game stayed around even until about the 13-minute mark and then CSUN maintained a small lead for the remainder of the half. In the final 24 seconds, the Bears were able to pull closer and tie it at 36 at the halfway point.

The second half started out even, with each team spending a fair amount of time at the charity stripe, until the game sped up around the midway point. A 3-pointer by Smith put the Matadors ahead by five points for the first time in the half, and they steadily widened that lead for the remainder of the game. CSUN shot 59 percent in the second half compared to 39 percent in the first 20 minutes.

The Matadors shot 84 percent (26-for-31) at the free throw line to the Bears' 76 percent (16-for-21) and CSUN led by as many as 19, while the Bears' biggest lead of four came and went just minutes into the night.

Forward Phillip Carr scored 20 points for Morgan State on the night, with seven of them at the free throw line. Guard Rasean Simpson had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds and guard Donte Pretlow had a team-high six assists.

The Matadors open up Big West Conference play this Wednesday, January 6 vs. Long Beach State at 7:00 p.m. in The Matadome and then head to Fullerton to take on the Cal State Fullerton Titans on Saturday, January 9 at 6:00 p.m.

Matadors Defeat Morgan State Bears, 88-74

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Team Stats

Micheal Warren

Kendall Smith

Jason Richardson

Tavrion Dawson

Players Mentioned

Olalekan Ajayi

Tre Hale-Edmerson

Jason Richardson

Kendall Smith

Micheal Warren

Jerron Wilbut