CSUN Concludes Opening Week at New Mexico

FULL GAME NOTES

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball completes a short two-game road trip on Saturday night when the Matadors take on New Mexico at 6 p.m. The game will air live on the Mountain West Network while Ghizal Hasan will call the action in an audio broadcast on the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health.

The Matadors kicked off the 2019-20 season on Tuesday, falling at Oregon State, 87-67. Playing short-handed, the Matadors trimmed a 45-31 lead to 63-57 near the midway mark of the second half but the Beavers took control down the stretch. CSUN went cold for a six-minute stretch, giving Oregon State a chance to pull away for the 20-point win. Tres Tinkle led the way for the Beavers with a double-double (25 points and 10 rebounds).

Junior Terrell Gomez scored a team-high 19 points while sophomore Elijah Harkless scored a career-high 15 points and sophomore Darius Brown II added 13 points and eight rebounds. Gomez knocked down 4-of-8 shots from 3-point range in 36 minutes of play. As a team, the Matadors made 8-of-26 from downtown (30.8 percent) while they converted on 13-of-18 from the free throw line (72.2 percent).

Making their Matador debut on Tuesday, junior Lance Coleman II scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds while freshman Festus Ndumanya played 23 minutes and finished with three assists, two points and two blocks. Redshirt freshman Brendan Harrick also made his first official appearance on the floor, scoring two points in eight minutes of action.

Gomez moved into sole possession of second place on the Matadors' career 3-point field goals made list on Tuesday. He is now up to 186 career 3-pointers, four ahead of Ian Boylan (2001-05) on the list. The Matadors' all-time career 3-point leader Josh Greene (2010-14) made 228 treys, which are 42 ahead of Gomez. With 1,022 career points, Gomez is also in 19th place on the Matadors' career scoring list and 19 points back of Todd Bowser (1986-91) for 18th place.

New Mexico and CSUN have played six times before with the Lobos going 6-0 in those games. The teams met in a thriller at The Matadome in last season's opener, which saw New Mexico escape with an 87-84 win. Lamine Diane scored a game-high 34 points, setting a new school record for points by a debuting player. However, Anthony Mathis hit the game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the Lobos to victory. CSUN's last game in Albuquerque took place in the 2008-09 season when the Lobos picked up an 85-74 win. The Matadors seek their first win over a Mountain West Conference team since beating Wyoming (74-71) in Dec. 2000.

A Closer Look at New Mexico
The Lobos won their opening night game, 92-71 over Eastern New Mexico on Wednesday. New Mexico finished 14-18 last season and tied for seventh place in the Mountain West Conference with a 7-11 record. The team returns nine letterwinners from last season including three starters. Head coach Paul Weir is in his third season at the helm.

Five Lobos scored in double figures in the win over Eastern New Mexico, led by junior Makuach Maluach with 16 points. Senior JaQuan Lyle dished out 11 assists in the victory to go with nine points. Top returning scorer, junior Vance Jackson averaged 13.1 points and 7.0 rebounds last season while top rebounder, senior Carlton Bragg Jr., grabbed 8.8 rebounds and scored 10.5 points per game.

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CSUN Concludes Opening Week at New Mexico

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Players Mentioned

Darius Brown II

Lance Coleman II

Lamine Diane

Terrell Gomez

Elijah Harkless

Brendan Harrick

Festus Ndumanya