Saturday, November 12
St. George, Utah
6:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
1-1,0-0Big West
63
at
69
Utah Tech
1-1,0-0WAC
1
2
F
CSUN
25
38
63
Utah Tech
33
36
69
Photo by: Will Navarro
CSUN Comeback Falls Short at Utah Tech
11/12/2022 8:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball
ST. GEORGE, Utah---CSUN Men's Basketball's (1-1) furious late rally fell just short as Utah Tech held on for a 69-63 win on Saturday at Burns Arena. Dionte Bostick scored a career-high 31 points including 19 in the second half while De'Sean Allen-Eikens chipped in with 12 points. CSUN trailed by as many as 21 points with less than six minutes to play before cutting the deficit to little as five points in the final seconds of the game.
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Bostick shouldered the load offensively in the opening stanza, scoring the team's first 12 points to start the game. Utah Tech opened up a 16-12 lead before CSUN went on a 6-0 run, capped by an Atin Wright basket to put the Matadors in front.
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After Onyi Eyisi scored a basket at the 4:36 mark to give CSUN a one-point edge, the Matadors missed their next four attempts while the Trailblazers surged in front with a 14-2 run. Jacob Nicolds sank a pair of free throws to give CSUN its biggest deficit at 33-22, but the Matadors went into intermission trailing by eight (33-25).
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In the first half, CSUN would miss its first seven at the free throw line before Fidelis Okereke made a late free throw to close the half. The Matadors though posted 15 offensive rebounds in the period to stay within striking distance.
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Utah Tech scored the first five points to start the second half, capitalizing on a CSUN turnover and missed shot from Bostick. The Matadors continued to struggle from the floor as CSUN made just 1-of-9 attempts to begin the period. CSUN though clawed back to within eight after baskets from Eyisi and Wright. Utah Tech would return the favor with a 9-4 spurt, capped by a 3-pointer from Isaiah Pope. Cameron Gooden added to the lead with back-to-back jumpers before Asjon Anderson nailed a 3-pointer to close a 7-0 run, pushing the lead to 56-36.
CSUN trailed by as many as 21 points following a Nicolds jumper with 7:09 to play. However, after a dunk from Trey Edmonds with six minutes to play, the Matadors held Utah Tech without a basket for the next four minutes. Meanwhile, CSUN began to cut into the lead with strong play on both ends of the court. Allen-Eikens would score five-straight CSUN points before Bostick drained a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 13.
Bostick brought CSUN to within single digits on another jumper plus a foul with 1:12 to play. After Bostick missed the free throw, Okereke picked up the offensive rebound and earned his way to the line where he made 1-of-2. CSUN inched closer when Bostick made yet another basket with 32 seconds left, cutting the lead to 67-62. After the teams traded free throws, Allen-Eikens picked up a steal with 19 seconds to play and CSUN down by five. However, the Matadors came up empty on that possession and would not pull closer the rest of the way.
GAME NOTES
After shooting under 31 percent in the first half, the Matadors finished shooting 34.3 percent for the game while the Trailblazers finished with a 45.7 shooting percentage. CSUN would finish 12-of-25 from the free throw line (48.0 percent) compared to Utah Tech which shot 22-of-33 (66.7 percent). The Matadors out-rebounded the Trailblazers 44-38 while CSUN had a narrow 28-26 edge in points in the paint.
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Dionte Bostick made 10-of-19 from the field and 3-of-6 from 3-point range. His 31 points are the most by a Matador since TJ Starks scored 31 against Hawai'i on Feb. 19, 2021. Onyi Eyisi just missed a double-double as he scored eight points and had nine rebounds. Atin Wright chipped in with six points and three steals.
For Utah Tech, Cameron Gooden had a team-high 17 points.
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ACCORDING TO COACH TRENT JOHNSON
"We lost our poise with three minutes to go in the first half. We tried to do things individually, which was very disappointing. Then to start the second half, we had some ill-advised turnovers that put us behind the eight-ball. This game is fair. The things we talked about and work on always are about playing with some physicality, taking care of the ball, catching the ball with two hands and executing our offense. It was disappointing because I didn't expect us to go off on our own like that. It's hard to win on the road when you play like that."
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UP NEXT
CSUN stays on the road for a match-up with California Baptist on Tuesday at 7 p.m. on ESPN+. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call in an audio broadcast at GoMatadors.com/Radio.
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#UniteTheValley
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Bostick shouldered the load offensively in the opening stanza, scoring the team's first 12 points to start the game. Utah Tech opened up a 16-12 lead before CSUN went on a 6-0 run, capped by an Atin Wright basket to put the Matadors in front.
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After Onyi Eyisi scored a basket at the 4:36 mark to give CSUN a one-point edge, the Matadors missed their next four attempts while the Trailblazers surged in front with a 14-2 run. Jacob Nicolds sank a pair of free throws to give CSUN its biggest deficit at 33-22, but the Matadors went into intermission trailing by eight (33-25).
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In the first half, CSUN would miss its first seven at the free throw line before Fidelis Okereke made a late free throw to close the half. The Matadors though posted 15 offensive rebounds in the period to stay within striking distance.
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Utah Tech scored the first five points to start the second half, capitalizing on a CSUN turnover and missed shot from Bostick. The Matadors continued to struggle from the floor as CSUN made just 1-of-9 attempts to begin the period. CSUN though clawed back to within eight after baskets from Eyisi and Wright. Utah Tech would return the favor with a 9-4 spurt, capped by a 3-pointer from Isaiah Pope. Cameron Gooden added to the lead with back-to-back jumpers before Asjon Anderson nailed a 3-pointer to close a 7-0 run, pushing the lead to 56-36.
CSUN trailed by as many as 21 points following a Nicolds jumper with 7:09 to play. However, after a dunk from Trey Edmonds with six minutes to play, the Matadors held Utah Tech without a basket for the next four minutes. Meanwhile, CSUN began to cut into the lead with strong play on both ends of the court. Allen-Eikens would score five-straight CSUN points before Bostick drained a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 13.
Bostick brought CSUN to within single digits on another jumper plus a foul with 1:12 to play. After Bostick missed the free throw, Okereke picked up the offensive rebound and earned his way to the line where he made 1-of-2. CSUN inched closer when Bostick made yet another basket with 32 seconds left, cutting the lead to 67-62. After the teams traded free throws, Allen-Eikens picked up a steal with 19 seconds to play and CSUN down by five. However, the Matadors came up empty on that possession and would not pull closer the rest of the way.
GAME NOTES
After shooting under 31 percent in the first half, the Matadors finished shooting 34.3 percent for the game while the Trailblazers finished with a 45.7 shooting percentage. CSUN would finish 12-of-25 from the free throw line (48.0 percent) compared to Utah Tech which shot 22-of-33 (66.7 percent). The Matadors out-rebounded the Trailblazers 44-38 while CSUN had a narrow 28-26 edge in points in the paint.
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Dionte Bostick made 10-of-19 from the field and 3-of-6 from 3-point range. His 31 points are the most by a Matador since TJ Starks scored 31 against Hawai'i on Feb. 19, 2021. Onyi Eyisi just missed a double-double as he scored eight points and had nine rebounds. Atin Wright chipped in with six points and three steals.
For Utah Tech, Cameron Gooden had a team-high 17 points.
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ACCORDING TO COACH TRENT JOHNSON
"We lost our poise with three minutes to go in the first half. We tried to do things individually, which was very disappointing. Then to start the second half, we had some ill-advised turnovers that put us behind the eight-ball. This game is fair. The things we talked about and work on always are about playing with some physicality, taking care of the ball, catching the ball with two hands and executing our offense. It was disappointing because I didn't expect us to go off on our own like that. It's hard to win on the road when you play like that."
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UP NEXT
CSUN stays on the road for a match-up with California Baptist on Tuesday at 7 p.m. on ESPN+. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call in an audio broadcast at GoMatadors.com/Radio.
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#UniteTheValley
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Team Stats
CSUN
UTTECH
FG%
.343
.457
3FG%
.238
.294
FT%
.480
.667
RB
44
38
TO
13
16
STL
6
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
31
FGM
10
3FGM
3
FTM
8
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's BasketballG
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