Saturday, November 28
Las Vegas, Nev.
1:00 pm
California State University at Northridge
1-1
61
vs
66
Air Force
1-0
1
2
F
Air Force
38
28
66
CSUN
25
36
61
Team Stats
USAFA
CSUN
FG%
.438
.364
3FG%
.440
.241
FT%
.684
.778
RB
34
34
TO
14
10
STL
5
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
13
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
5
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G/F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Braden Villanueva
CSUN Rally Falls Short Against Air Force
11/28/2020 2:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LAS VEGAS, Nev.---CSUN Men's Basketball trimmed a 13-point second-half deficit to three with under two minutes to play but Air Force held on for a 66-61 victory on Saturday afternoon at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Junior TJ Starks scored a team-high 22 points while senior Lance Coleman II fought off a tough shooting day (3-of-12) to finish with 13 points. Freshman Alex Merkviladze tied his rebound total from opening night with 12 boards to go with nine points and two steals. The Matadors missed a pair of late 3-pointers while Air Force picked up a late basket to hold off CSUN's rally in the final seconds.
After shooting under 30 percent from the field in the first half, the Matadors finished strong and shot 36.4 percent for the game. On the flip side, the Falcons shot 43.8 percent but knocked down 11-of-25 from 3-point range (44.0 percent) on Saturday. CSUN struggled from beyond the 3-point arc throughout the contest and finished just 7-of-29 (24.1 percent). The teams finished with 34 rebounds apiece as CSUN out-rebounded Air Force 22-12 in the second half.
FIRST HALF
Coleman II opened the scoring with three-straight made free throws but the Matadors missed their first six field goal attempts, giving Air Force a chance to capitalize. The Falcons would indeed take advantage and go on a 13-1 run, capped by a trey from A.J. Walker to lead by nine. Air Force continued to make 3-pointers with regularity in the half, making 9-of-17 including its first five to build a 22-10 lead with 12:18 left on the clock. In contrast, the Matadors made 8-of-27 field goals in the opening stanza.
Despite their shots not falling, the Matadors remained within striking distance. An 8-2 run, which included 3-pointers from Amound Anderson and Starks, trimmed the deficit to 24-18 near the midway point of the first half. However, the final minutes belonged to the Falcons as Chris Joyce and AJ Walker combined for 25 first-half points with six 3-pointers. After a pull-up jumper from Brendan Harrick, six-straight from Walker gave the Falcons a 38-25 edge at the break.
SECOND HALF
After halftime, the Matadors improved their defensive play and would cut into the lead. The Falcons were held to two made field goals for the first seven minutes as the Matadors pulled to within 42-34 on a Starks jumper. Leaning on the 3-point shot, Air Force increased its lead back to double-digits on a Nikc Jackson trey but Starks continued his hot shooting with a jumper in the lane to cut the lead to nine with 10:06 to play.
Darius Brown II got into the scoring act with back-to-back baskets near the eight-minute mark but the Matadors could not pull closer than eight points for a majority of the second half. After the four-minute media timeout, two free throws from Ameka Akaya gave the Falcons a 61-51 edge. On the ensuing possession, a Starks drive led to a Festus Ndumanya dunk to again make it an eight-point game before the junior guard drained a long-range jumper to make it a 61-56 game.
The teams traded timely baskets until CSUN scored five unanswered to cut the lead to three. After a Starks driving layup, Coleman II drilled a corner 3-pointer to pull CSUN with 64-61 with 1:24 on the clock. Air Force though had an answer as Joyce scored in the lane on the other end to stretch the lead back to five. Coleman II had two 3-point looks in the final minute but both went off the mark, giving Air Force the narrow five-point win.
GAME NOTES
Starks finished 8-of-18 from the field and 3-of-8 from 3-point range in the contest. His backcourt mate, Brown II, finished with six points, three rebounds and three assists in 37 minutes of action. The Matadors held a edge in points off turnovers at 15-5 meanwhile Air Force had a slight 11-10 edge in second chance points.
For Air Force, Joyce scored a game-high 23 points while Walker added 13 points and 10 rebounds.
ACCORDING TO HEAD COACH MARK GOTTFRIED
"I think it was a great game for our players. We have so many inexperienced guys. Air Force is a team that runs that Princeton offense, the backdoor cuts. That's a handful when you have a bunch of young guys but I thought we adjusted at halftime and we got a lot better in the second half. We took away the threes, we guarded the back cuts better and we put a lot better pressure on the ball. Our guys competed hard, we never laid down and kept fighting until the end. We got it down to about three with a minute to go so we were right there."
UP NEXT
The Matadors wrap up play at the Vegas Bubble on Monday afternoon when they take on Seattle University at 2 p.m. Fans can watch the game on FloHoops with a paid subscription while an audio broadcast will be available at GoMatadors.com/Radio with Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister on the call.
#UniteTheValley
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After shooting under 30 percent from the field in the first half, the Matadors finished strong and shot 36.4 percent for the game. On the flip side, the Falcons shot 43.8 percent but knocked down 11-of-25 from 3-point range (44.0 percent) on Saturday. CSUN struggled from beyond the 3-point arc throughout the contest and finished just 7-of-29 (24.1 percent). The teams finished with 34 rebounds apiece as CSUN out-rebounded Air Force 22-12 in the second half.
FIRST HALF
Coleman II opened the scoring with three-straight made free throws but the Matadors missed their first six field goal attempts, giving Air Force a chance to capitalize. The Falcons would indeed take advantage and go on a 13-1 run, capped by a trey from A.J. Walker to lead by nine. Air Force continued to make 3-pointers with regularity in the half, making 9-of-17 including its first five to build a 22-10 lead with 12:18 left on the clock. In contrast, the Matadors made 8-of-27 field goals in the opening stanza.
Despite their shots not falling, the Matadors remained within striking distance. An 8-2 run, which included 3-pointers from Amound Anderson and Starks, trimmed the deficit to 24-18 near the midway point of the first half. However, the final minutes belonged to the Falcons as Chris Joyce and AJ Walker combined for 25 first-half points with six 3-pointers. After a pull-up jumper from Brendan Harrick, six-straight from Walker gave the Falcons a 38-25 edge at the break.
SECOND HALF
After halftime, the Matadors improved their defensive play and would cut into the lead. The Falcons were held to two made field goals for the first seven minutes as the Matadors pulled to within 42-34 on a Starks jumper. Leaning on the 3-point shot, Air Force increased its lead back to double-digits on a Nikc Jackson trey but Starks continued his hot shooting with a jumper in the lane to cut the lead to nine with 10:06 to play.
Darius Brown II got into the scoring act with back-to-back baskets near the eight-minute mark but the Matadors could not pull closer than eight points for a majority of the second half. After the four-minute media timeout, two free throws from Ameka Akaya gave the Falcons a 61-51 edge. On the ensuing possession, a Starks drive led to a Festus Ndumanya dunk to again make it an eight-point game before the junior guard drained a long-range jumper to make it a 61-56 game.
The teams traded timely baskets until CSUN scored five unanswered to cut the lead to three. After a Starks driving layup, Coleman II drilled a corner 3-pointer to pull CSUN with 64-61 with 1:24 on the clock. Air Force though had an answer as Joyce scored in the lane on the other end to stretch the lead back to five. Coleman II had two 3-point looks in the final minute but both went off the mark, giving Air Force the narrow five-point win.
GAME NOTES
Starks finished 8-of-18 from the field and 3-of-8 from 3-point range in the contest. His backcourt mate, Brown II, finished with six points, three rebounds and three assists in 37 minutes of action. The Matadors held a edge in points off turnovers at 15-5 meanwhile Air Force had a slight 11-10 edge in second chance points.
For Air Force, Joyce scored a game-high 23 points while Walker added 13 points and 10 rebounds.
ACCORDING TO HEAD COACH MARK GOTTFRIED
"I think it was a great game for our players. We have so many inexperienced guys. Air Force is a team that runs that Princeton offense, the backdoor cuts. That's a handful when you have a bunch of young guys but I thought we adjusted at halftime and we got a lot better in the second half. We took away the threes, we guarded the back cuts better and we put a lot better pressure on the ball. Our guys competed hard, we never laid down and kept fighting until the end. We got it down to about three with a minute to go so we were right there."
UP NEXT
The Matadors wrap up play at the Vegas Bubble on Monday afternoon when they take on Seattle University at 2 p.m. Fans can watch the game on FloHoops with a paid subscription while an audio broadcast will be available at GoMatadors.com/Radio with Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister on the call.
#UniteTheValley
Â
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