Four Matadors Score in Double Figures as CSUN Defeats Cal Poly

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball (5-14, 2-3 BWC) led for all but 48 seconds as the Matadors defeated Cal Poly, 72-54, for their second-straight Big West win on Saturday at The Matadome. Tavrion Dawson collected his second consecutive double-double, finishing with a game-high 23 points to go with 10 rebounds, two assists and two steals. Terrell Gomez poured in 20 points and four assists while Lyrik Shreiner registered his first career double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds.

"I thought this was one of our more complete ball games," said head coach Reggie Theus. "Our defense was extremely good, especially early. When we needed the defense to be good it was excellent. When you have Tavrion with a double-double and Lyrik with a double-double it makes us a better ballclub. I thought that Jonathan [Guevara] came in and gave us some great minutes. 30 points in the paint and we out-rebound them, that's a massive plus for us."

The Matadors shot 52.1 percent from the floor and knocked down 16-of-19 from the free throw line (84.2 percent). On the defensive end, the Matadors held the Mustangs to 35.7 percent shooting for the game including a 3-of-21 (14.3 percent) effort from beyond the 3-point arc. CSUN out-rebounded Cal Poly 33-27, and posted advantages in points in the paint (30-18) and points off turnovers (15-9).

Cal Poly took a 2-0 lead off a basket from Josh Martin on the opening possession but that would be the Mustangs' only lead on the night. Dawson scored the Matadors' first seven points to quickly put CSUN up 7-2. After Cal Poly pulled to within 9-6, CSUN countered with 10-0 run capped off by another jumper from Dawson to push the lead to 19-6.

Off the bench, Jonathan Guevara gave the Matadors a lift with his play on both sides of the court. Guevara forced a steal at the 9:12 mark leading to a jumper from Gomez seconds later. He also scored down low on a dribble drive to extend the lead to 25-9.

Gomez scored nine-straight Matador points during the first half and pushed the lead to as big as 17 points (32-15) at the 5:04 mark with a jumper. The Matadors ended the half in resounding fashion as a defense stop led to a coast-to-coast drive and score from Guevara at the halftime buzzer. Shooting above 55 percent in the half, CSUN led by a 36-21 margin at intermission

The Mustangs would make a run early on in the second half to trim the CSUN lead to single digits. After Shreiner scored down low to push the lead to 38-23, Cal Poly went on a 9-0 run to make it a 38-32 game.

However, following a timeout, the Matadors would immediately right the ship. Shreiner nailed a 3-pointer right out of the timeout, and Dawson completed a 3-point play on the next possession. CSUN added to its lead with another Shreiner 3-pointer followed by a pair of free throws from Micheal Warren. Coupled with three defensive stops, the Matadors completed a 11-0 run over a 2:18 span to build a 49-32 lead.

Cal Poly would get as close as 12 points in the second half but the Matadors kept the Mustangs at bay down the stretch. The Matadors led by as many as 20 points (72-52) in the second half after a made free throw from Warren in the final minute. Both Warren and Shreiner scored 10 points in the second half to help keep the Matadors ahead comfortably.

Scoring all 10 of his points after halftime, Warren also finished with five rebounds and two assists. Guevara collected five points, two rebounds and a steal in 25 minutes of action.

Dawson climbed into 18th place on the Matadors' career scoring list with his 23-point effort. With 1,023 career points, Dawson can move into 17th place, occupied by Todd Bowser (1986-91) with 18 more points.

The Matadors hit the road next week for a Thursday matchup with UC Davis. Tip off is slated for 7 p.m. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister will call the action on the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health.

Four Matadors Score in Double Figures as CSUN Defeats Cal Poly

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Team Stats

Tavrion Dawson

Terrell Gomez

Lyrik Shreiner

Micheal Warren

Players Mentioned

Tavrion Dawson

Terrell Gomez

Jonathan Guevara

Lyrik Shreiner

Micheal Warren