Monday, November 30
Las Vegas, Nev.
2:00 pm
California State University at Northridge
2-1
76
vs
65
Seattle U
3-1
1
2
F
Seattle U
28
37
65
CSUN
39
37
76
Team Stats
SU
CSUN
FG%
.371
.473
3FG%
.241
.357
FT%
.706
.760
RB
37
37
TO
13
13
STL
5
8
Game Leaders
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G/F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Braden Villanueva
Matadors Lead from Start-to-Finish in Win Over Seattle U
11/30/2020 3:55:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LAS VEGAS, Nev.---Junior TJ Starks scored a team-high 20 points to lead CSUN Men's Basketball (2-1) to a wire-to-wire 76-65 victory over Seattle U on Monday afternoon at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Starks hit 7-of-15 from the field and collected six rebounds for the Matadors. Senior Lance Coleman II added 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting to go with six rebounds while freshman Amound Anderson scored a season-best 12 points. Junior Darius Brown II chipped in with eight points, eight assists and five rebounds. CSUN defeated a Redhawk team (3-1) that was unbeaten coming into the game and won all three of their games by double digits.
The Matadors shot 47.3 percent for the game and held Seattle U to 37.1 percent shooting. CSUN also hit 5-of-14 from 3-point range (35.7 percent) while the Redhawks knocked down 7-of-29 (24.1 percent). The teams finished with 37 rebounds apiece in the game. The Matadors had a 38-24 advantage in points in the paint and outscored the Redhawks 20-8 in fast break points.
FIRST HALF
CSUN came out firing at the outset of the game, making four of its first six shots to stake to a 9-2 lead. Seven different Matadors made it into the scoring column in the opening stanza. The Matador bench also gave the team a lift as freshman Fidelis Okereke and Anderson each recorded baskets after checking into the game near the 14-minute mark.
Seattle U pulled to within 22-17 before six unanswered CSUN points gave the Matadors a double-digit lead. Following a steal from Alex Merkviladze, Brown II made it a 28-17 game to cap the run. Darrion Trammell helped keep the Redhawks close with 17 points in the first half as he scored nine-straight for his team to cut the Matador lead to 30-26. CSUN though ended the final 2:57 with a 9-2 run with the freshman trio of Merkviladze, Anderson and Okereke accounting for seven of those points. CSUN went into the halftime break leading 39-28.
SECOND HALF
The Matadors extended their lead to 14 points (45-31) after a layup from Merkviladze but the Redhawks would make a push behind Riley Rigsby who scored all 11 points in Seattle U's 11-2 run, which sliced the lead to 47-42. Starks gave the Matadors a much-needed bucket with 13:33 left to play on a coast-to-coast drive to the hoop. Moments later, Brendan Harrick drilled a 3-pointer to push the lead back to double digits.
The Redhawks once again trimmed the deficit to nine points on a 3-pointer from Aaron Nettles before the Matadors earned their way to the free throw line on three-straight possessions to go back up by a 69-56 margin. Trammel's jumper in the lane made it a 69-61 game but CSUN would take control over the final three minutes of the contest. Starks scored off a pass from Brown II with 2:44 on the clock. Moments later, the Matador backcourt teamed up for another score as Brown II picked up a steal and Starks finished on the other end to give the Matadors their biggest lead at 76-61. CSUN would hold on in the closing moments to pick up the win.
GAME NOTES
Brown II moved into seventh place in CSUN's all-time career assist list, passing Troy Dueker (1984-88). The junior now has 322 career assists and is just three away from tying Josh Jenkins (2007-09) for sixth on the list.
Okereke finished with eight points and four rebounds in 18 minutes while Merkviladze had seven points and six rebounds.
For Seattle U, Trammell had a game-high 25 points and Grigsby had 18 points.
ACCORDING TO HEAD COACH MARK GOTTFRIED
"I think it is a good win for us. [Seattle U] is a team that beat Air Force by 18 points so I liked the way our guys played. We had a lot of energy early. Our enthusiasm was really high. At the first timeout, everybody had a basket, we had a good balance. At the end of the game, we had a few guys push out with their scoring a little bit but we had eight guys score, which was important. Darius played a great floor game, with eight assists and one turnover. TJ got going a little bit. Lance made a couple of nice shots. You could go down the line, Amound made a big three for us. Defensively, I thought we were pretty good. [Trammell] is a tough player with the way they run their offense. Good win for us, I liked our enthusiasm, I liked our togetherness and it's something we could build on."
UP NEXT
With CSUN's previously scheduled game against Fresno State postponed, the Matadors are next set to take the floor on Saturday, Dec. 12 against Pepperdine in Malibu. The game will stream live on the WCC Network while an audio broadcast will be available at GoMatadors.com/Radio with
Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister on the call.
#UniteTheValley
Â
Starks hit 7-of-15 from the field and collected six rebounds for the Matadors. Senior Lance Coleman II added 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting to go with six rebounds while freshman Amound Anderson scored a season-best 12 points. Junior Darius Brown II chipped in with eight points, eight assists and five rebounds. CSUN defeated a Redhawk team (3-1) that was unbeaten coming into the game and won all three of their games by double digits.
The Matadors shot 47.3 percent for the game and held Seattle U to 37.1 percent shooting. CSUN also hit 5-of-14 from 3-point range (35.7 percent) while the Redhawks knocked down 7-of-29 (24.1 percent). The teams finished with 37 rebounds apiece in the game. The Matadors had a 38-24 advantage in points in the paint and outscored the Redhawks 20-8 in fast break points.
FIRST HALF
CSUN came out firing at the outset of the game, making four of its first six shots to stake to a 9-2 lead. Seven different Matadors made it into the scoring column in the opening stanza. The Matador bench also gave the team a lift as freshman Fidelis Okereke and Anderson each recorded baskets after checking into the game near the 14-minute mark.
Seattle U pulled to within 22-17 before six unanswered CSUN points gave the Matadors a double-digit lead. Following a steal from Alex Merkviladze, Brown II made it a 28-17 game to cap the run. Darrion Trammell helped keep the Redhawks close with 17 points in the first half as he scored nine-straight for his team to cut the Matador lead to 30-26. CSUN though ended the final 2:57 with a 9-2 run with the freshman trio of Merkviladze, Anderson and Okereke accounting for seven of those points. CSUN went into the halftime break leading 39-28.
SECOND HALF
The Matadors extended their lead to 14 points (45-31) after a layup from Merkviladze but the Redhawks would make a push behind Riley Rigsby who scored all 11 points in Seattle U's 11-2 run, which sliced the lead to 47-42. Starks gave the Matadors a much-needed bucket with 13:33 left to play on a coast-to-coast drive to the hoop. Moments later, Brendan Harrick drilled a 3-pointer to push the lead back to double digits.
The Redhawks once again trimmed the deficit to nine points on a 3-pointer from Aaron Nettles before the Matadors earned their way to the free throw line on three-straight possessions to go back up by a 69-56 margin. Trammel's jumper in the lane made it a 69-61 game but CSUN would take control over the final three minutes of the contest. Starks scored off a pass from Brown II with 2:44 on the clock. Moments later, the Matador backcourt teamed up for another score as Brown II picked up a steal and Starks finished on the other end to give the Matadors their biggest lead at 76-61. CSUN would hold on in the closing moments to pick up the win.
GAME NOTES
Brown II moved into seventh place in CSUN's all-time career assist list, passing Troy Dueker (1984-88). The junior now has 322 career assists and is just three away from tying Josh Jenkins (2007-09) for sixth on the list.
Okereke finished with eight points and four rebounds in 18 minutes while Merkviladze had seven points and six rebounds.
For Seattle U, Trammell had a game-high 25 points and Grigsby had 18 points.
ACCORDING TO HEAD COACH MARK GOTTFRIED
"I think it is a good win for us. [Seattle U] is a team that beat Air Force by 18 points so I liked the way our guys played. We had a lot of energy early. Our enthusiasm was really high. At the first timeout, everybody had a basket, we had a good balance. At the end of the game, we had a few guys push out with their scoring a little bit but we had eight guys score, which was important. Darius played a great floor game, with eight assists and one turnover. TJ got going a little bit. Lance made a couple of nice shots. You could go down the line, Amound made a big three for us. Defensively, I thought we were pretty good. [Trammell] is a tough player with the way they run their offense. Good win for us, I liked our enthusiasm, I liked our togetherness and it's something we could build on."
UP NEXT
With CSUN's previously scheduled game against Fresno State postponed, the Matadors are next set to take the floor on Saturday, Dec. 12 against Pepperdine in Malibu. The game will stream live on the WCC Network 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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