CSUN Rallies to Defeat NIU, 84-82

Saturday, November 19

Northridge, CA

8:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

2-2

Northern Illinois

3-1

Northern Illinois

CSUN

Photo by: Paul Trafecanty

CSUN Rallies to Defeat NIU, 84-82

11/19/2016 11:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

En Español

NORTHRIDGE, CA---

Trailing most of the night, CSUN Men's Basketball (2-2) pulled past Northern Illinois (3-1) in the final minutes to earn a 84-82 victory Saturday evening at The Matadome. Senior guard Aaron Parks led all scorers with 22 points to go along with eight rebounds. Off the bench, Tavrion Dawson finished with 21 points and seven boards while Kendall Smith scored 15 points, dished out eight assists and grabbed five rebounds.

"A very, very gutsy win," said head coach Reggie Theus. "[NIU] is a team that plays a lot of crash ball. They drive the ball just like we do, so I thought it was going to be a very physical, hard-fought basketball game, and it was. In the end, we gave up 23 offensive rebounds and that's the really issue here. But down the stretch of the game, we matched their toughness and took it a step further. We took the game away from them at the end because we played smart and we played tougher down the stretch."

Shooting 51.9 percent from the field, CSUN kept the Huskies to 34.1 percent from the floor on the night. The Matadors held an edge in points in the paint at 38-34, and in bench points, posting 35 compared to NIU's 12.

Despite leading in many categories across the stat sheet, CSUN trailed in the rebounding department, 47-39. Finding itself down late in the second half, CSUN erased a five-point deficit and grabbed key rebounds down the stretch to earn its second win of the season.

Spotting the Huskies' the first five points of the game, the Matadors faced an early deficit and foul trouble in the first half. Center Dylan Johns was whistled for two fouls in the first 1:50 of the game while Rakim Lubin picked up a pair of fouls of his own minutes later and was forced to sit out most of the opening period as well.

Trailing by as many as nine early on, a 12-5 run brought CSUN to within 24-22 at the 6:51 mark of the first half after a fast break dunk from Dawson.

Northern Illinois built its lead back to seven on an 8-3 run over the next 3:30 of the game but CSUN finally drew even on a 7-0 outburst following a 3-pointer from Jerron Wilbut and a driving lay-in from Dawson. The Matador bench scored 16 points in the first half as Dawson scored seven.

Scoring two of his 13 points in the first half, Parks gave the Matadors a lead late in the half on a lay-up but NIU scored four-straight to go ahead 36-34 at the break.

The two teams traded baskets in the early moments of the second half before NIU built a five-point lead with 16:18 left to play after a lay-up from Laytwan Porter.

The Huskies led by as many seven points in the second half and took a 70-65 lead with 5:24 left on the clock, scoring five-straight points after the Matadors tied the game at 65-65 a minute earlier.

Relying on strong shooting from the field, the Matadors would play strong down the stretch. Three-straight scoring trips including a three-point play from Dawson gave CSUN the lead at 72-70. Reggie Theus Jr. capped off a 10-0 run with a 3-pointer from the corner to give the Matadors their biggest advantage of five.

NIU battled back to trim the deficit to 79-78 with 1:19 left to play but CSUN kept in front with quality shooting at the free throw line. Four-straight converted attempts at the charity stripe from Dawson pushed the lead to 83-78 with just 00:18 on the clock.

Looking comfortably in front, CSUN surrendered a 3-pointer from Porter that cut the advantage to two. After Lubin went 1-for-2 at the line, the Matadors committed a foul on the ensuing possession. The Huskies pulled to within 84-82 on a free throw made by Levi Bradley. In a sudden turn of events, Lubin turned over the inbounds pass to Dontel Highsmith, giving NIU one last chance. Highsmith launched a long 3-pointer as the clock expired but his shot went off the mark, giving CSUN the win.

In an efficient night from the floor, Parks shot 10-for-13 to finish with a season-high 22 points. Smith's eight assists are a career-high as he had previously posted two seven-assist efforts. Lubin scored a career-high 10 points on the night to go along with four rebounds.

Dawson went a perfect 7-for-7 at the free throw line in the win while Smith converted on 11-of-12 shots. As a team, CSUN shot 23-for-28 from the line.

The Matadors now set their sights on competing in the Wooden Legacy next Thursday. CSUN faces Texas A&M in the opening round of the tournament with tip-off slated for 11 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day from Titan Gym in Fullerton, CA.