Green Bay Edges CSUN, 85-84, in Thriller

GREEN BAY, Wis.---CSUN Men's Basketball rallied from 19 down to take a late lead but Green Bay came away with the game winner with under a minute to play to beat the Matadors 85-84 on Monday at the Roman Legends Classic presented by Old Trapper. Junior Terrell Gomez scored a game-high 30 points including CSUN's last six points. Sophomore Darius Brown II added 18 points and seven assists while junior Lance Coleman II chipped in with 17 points and eight rebounds.

CSUN shot a season-high 54.2 percent from the field including making 11-of-22 from 3-point range and 9-of-10 from the free throw line. The Phoenix finished shooting 51.7 percent and made an impressive 13-of-21 from downtown (61.9 percent). CSUN narrowly out-rebounded Green Bay 29-28 and outscored the Phoenix bench, 33-19.

FIRST HALF
The Phoenix benefited from a Matador slow start to jump out to a 9-0 lead. CSUN committed four turnovers in the first six minutes while Green Bay made five 3-pointers over that span to stake to a 21-6 lead. Green Bay's lead would eventually swell to 19 points (32-13) near the midway mark of the half after a stepback jumper from Kameron Hankerson.

The Matadors would turn it around over the final 10 minutes, behind stifling defense. Gomez drew a charge on a PJ Pipes drive to the basket before Elijah Harkless drilled a 3-pointer from straight away. Ron Artest III made a couple of blocks on the defensive end and also scored four points in the period. CSUN closed the half on an 11-2 run, capped by a Jared Pearre block and a Gomez play in transition where he drew two free throws and brought CSUN to within 44-38.

SECOND HALF
Gomez came out quickly with back-to-back buckets and Coleman II drilled a 3-pointer to give CSUN a 45-44 lead right out of the gate. However, Green Bay answered in kind with a 6-0 spurt, capped by a jumper from Cody Schwartz to take back the lead. Amari Davis scored on a driving layup that closed another 7-0 run from the Phoenix that pushed the lead to 57-48. CSUN would battle back behind a pair of 3-pointers from Coleman II while Harkless earned his way to the free throw line to bring CSUN within one (59-58).

The Matadors would make nine-straight shots at one point in the second half while Green Bay stayed hot too as the teams traded leads down the stretch. Brown II tallied eight-straight Matador points during the stretch, eventually giving the Matadors a 71-68 lead with 6:17 to play. After a Gomez 3-pointer put the Matadors up by four (74-70), JayQuan McCloud scored seven of his team's next nine points to put Green Bay ahead 79-77. On the ensuing possession, Gomez made two free throws then buried a jumper to put the Matadors on top by two.

Pipes would sink a trey from NBA range with 1:43 to play, only to see Gomez make a clutch 3-pointer of his own to give CSUN an 84-82 lead. However, Green Bay had an answer as Hankerson made another 3-pointer on the next possession. CSUN committed a turnover on its next time down the court but came away with a defensive stop to set up the final play with three seconds left. Harkless had a look at the net from 3-point range but missed the mark as the final horn sounded.

GAME NOTES
Harkless finished with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting. Coleman II knocked down 5-of-8 from long range while Gomez made 4-of-9.

For Green Bay, McCloud scored a team-high 20 points.

ACCORDING TO HEAD COACH MARK GOTTFRIED
"We were down 19 but from that point forward we really played phenomenal. There's always going to be few things that happen late in the game, they end up making two three's. If they don't make those we end up winning. We turned it over and we kind of fumbled here and there, but the one thing you have to understand is that our guys played their absolute hearts out.

I told our team in there that we're a better team than when we got on the plane and got here. We are a better basketball team - the record doesn't show it but we're better than we were and we're going to keep getting better."

UP NEXT
CSUN returns to The Matadome on Saturday to host Fresno State at 3 p.m.

#UniteTheValley

Next Event

Team Stats

Terrell Gomez

Darius Brown II

Lance Coleman II

Elijah Harkless

Players Mentioned

Ron Artest III

Darius Brown II

Lance Coleman II

Terrell Gomez

Elijah Harkless

Jared Pearre