49ers Pull Away from Matadors in the Second Half; CSUN Falls 79-94

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Northridge, CA – The CSUN Matadors (5-10, 0-1 BWC) lost to the Long Beach State 49ers (7-9, 1-0 BWC) on Wednesday night in The Matadome, 79-94, in their first Big West Conference game of the season. CSUN stayed even with Long Beach State for much of the first half, but 3-point shooting down the stretch proved to be the difference for the 49ers.

Junior Kendall Smith scored a career-high 27 points for CSUN and senior Tre Hale-Edmerson led the team in rebounds with eight and assists with nine, also adding four blocks. Sophomore Zacarry Douglas was next-highest on the team with nine points, while Hale-Edmerson, sophomore Tavrion Dawson and freshman Jason Richardson scored eight apiece.

"I really thought we did a lot of good things in the first half and early in the second half; we just didn't have the leadership to pull it out in the second half and really get the momentum back. Once we lost the momentum, we never got it back," said Head Coach Reggie Theus. "Statistically, there's really nothing that sticks out other than them making 15 3s."

The high-energy game got off to a fast start and each team contributed its share of highlight plays early on. The 49ers were ahead slightly at the outset, but a 3-pointer by sophomore Jerron Wilbut, layup by Dawson and a driving layup by Richardson pulled the Matadors even with the 49ers at 16 at just about 10 minutes in.

A dunk by Warren put the Matadors on top for the first time in the half and the game stayed within a few baskets from there, with the Matadors trailing 37-42 as the teams went to the locker rooms. Smith scored 14 points in the first half, Hale-Edmerson had three blocked shots and five assists and Dawson led the team with five rebounds.

The second half maintained the same up-tempo pace and CSUN pulled even at the start and led a few minutes in. However, the 49ers would steadily increase their lead for the remainder of the game, capitalizing on their success from beyond the 3-point arc. Long Beach State hit 15-of-30 3-pointers and was 63 percent from the free throw line. CSUN bested the 49ers in shooting overall, 50 percent to 49, but couldn't hold up shooting from outside the arc or at the charity stripe.

After starting tonight and playing 37 total minutes, Hale-Edmerson moves up to tie for third place on the all-time CSUN games started list (109, tied with Markus Carr) and into sole possession of eighth place on the career minutes list (3,045), passing Jonathan Heard.

49ers senior Nick Faust scored 28 points on the night, earning a double-double with 12 rebounds. Sophomore Justin Bibbins added 20 points, six rebounds and eight assists.

The Matadors head to Orange County to take on the Cal State Fullerton Titans this Saturday, January 9 at 6:00 p.m. and then up north to play the UC Davis Aggies on Thursday, January 14 at 7:30 p.m. They return to The Matadome two days later to face UC Riverside.

49ers Pull Away from Matadors in the Second Half; CSUN Falls 79-94

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Team Stats

Kendall Smith

Zacarry Douglas

Jason Richardson

Tre Hale-Edmerson

Players Mentioned

Tavrion Dawson

Zacarry Douglas

Tre Hale-Edmerson

Jason Richardson

Kendall Smith

Jerron Wilbut