Monday, November 7
Northridge, Calif.
7:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
1-0,0-0Big West
90
vs
55
La Sierra
0-1
1
2
F
La Sierra
28
27
55
CSUN
37
53
90
Photo by: Will Navarro
Matadors Use Balanced Scoring to Top La Sierra in Season Opener
11/7/2022 9:23:00 PM | Men's Basketball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---Five players scored in double figures as CSUN defeated La Sierra 90-55 in a wire-to-wire season-opening win on Monday at Premier America Credit Union Arena. Adam Afifi led all Matadors with 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting in his CSUN debut while Atin Wright added 14 points, three assists and two steals. De'Sean Allen-Eikens and Marcel Stevens had 11 points and Dearon Tucker poured in 10 points in the victory.
CSUN would race out to a 10-0 start at the outset before La Sierra made its first field goal at the 15:31 mark of the first half. After Tucker scored in the paint, Stevens knocked down the first of his two 3-point field goals in the opening stanza to push the lead to 15-4. The Matadors continued to lead by double-digits when Afifi gave CSUN a 24-13 edge, but La Sierra went on a 7-2 run to trim the deficit to six.
Despite shooting 38.9 percent in the first half, the Matadors knocked down five 3-pointers in the period while CSUN went 4-of-5 at the foul line. The Golden Eagles would pull to within five at 30-25 late in the half before the Matadors put together a 7-0 run, capped by a trey from Stevens. After a late basket by Blake Bluitt, CSUN went into halftime leading 37-28.
The Golden Eagles trimmed the Matador deficit to five early in the second half, but the Matadors would take control with a 19-2 run over a five-minute stretch. During the run, Wright scored 10 points while Afifi knocked down a 3-pointer and sank a jumper in the paint. Minutes later, Ethan Igbanugo drilled a 3-pointer before finishing on a fast break layup to push the lead to 64-36.
CSUN shot a red-hot 64.7 percent from the field in the second half as several Matador reserves got into the scoring act. Lamine Niang would get the Matador faithful on their feet with an emphatic dunk following a pass from Igbanugo. Cam Slaymaker sank a 3-pointer with seven minutes to go before Onyi Eyisi pushed the lead past 30 points on a layup. Arman Pezeshkian scored his first career field goal as a Matador in the final minute as CSUN led by its biggest margin late at 35 points.
GAME NOTES
CSUN finished shooting 51.4 percent for the game while it knocked down 10-of-24 from 3-point range (41.7 percent). On the flip side, La Sierra shot 26.9 percent for the night. The Matadors out-rebounded the Golden Eagles 44-30. CSUN also held a 52-12 edge in points in the paint. The Matadors registered 23 assists to six turnovers.
All 15 Matadors who dressed played in the game while 13 players made at least one field goal. Onyi Eyisi just missed a double-double, posting a game-high 10 rebounds with eight points. Ethan Igbanugo had a team-high five assists to go with five points and five rebounds in his CSUN debut.
For La Sierra, Blake Bluitt had a game-high 16 points.
ACCORDING TO COACH TRENT JOHNSON
"I thought we got off to a good start in terms of our defensive effort. Then we got a little comfortable. We played a lot of guys, and we made the decision to give a lot of guys an opportunity early. I thought La Sierra does a good job of spreading you. We had a quickness advantage, but they did a really good job of making us guard on the perimeter. We had a hard time guarding them without fouling, but for the most part, we needed that. Our post guys need to be out on the perimeter and move their feet. Again, it's always good when a lot of guys get an opportunity to play.
"Like I told them, you need to enjoy it. I think it's been a long time for this basketball team and program where we've won a game like that. But more importantly, everybody played in the first half. With all that being said, we're off tomorrow, we have to sit it on a video on Utah Tech, which is a very good basketball team. It's their home opener. It was probably one of our best wins last year here [against Utah Tech]."
UP NEXT
CSUN will play the next five games on the road starting with a Saturday night match-up with Utah Tech. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. PDT on ESPN+. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call on GoMatadors.com/Radio.
#UniteTheValley
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CSUN would race out to a 10-0 start at the outset before La Sierra made its first field goal at the 15:31 mark of the first half. After Tucker scored in the paint, Stevens knocked down the first of his two 3-point field goals in the opening stanza to push the lead to 15-4. The Matadors continued to lead by double-digits when Afifi gave CSUN a 24-13 edge, but La Sierra went on a 7-2 run to trim the deficit to six.
Despite shooting 38.9 percent in the first half, the Matadors knocked down five 3-pointers in the period while CSUN went 4-of-5 at the foul line. The Golden Eagles would pull to within five at 30-25 late in the half before the Matadors put together a 7-0 run, capped by a trey from Stevens. After a late basket by Blake Bluitt, CSUN went into halftime leading 37-28.
The Golden Eagles trimmed the Matador deficit to five early in the second half, but the Matadors would take control with a 19-2 run over a five-minute stretch. During the run, Wright scored 10 points while Afifi knocked down a 3-pointer and sank a jumper in the paint. Minutes later, Ethan Igbanugo drilled a 3-pointer before finishing on a fast break layup to push the lead to 64-36.
CSUN shot a red-hot 64.7 percent from the field in the second half as several Matador reserves got into the scoring act. Lamine Niang would get the Matador faithful on their feet with an emphatic dunk following a pass from Igbanugo. Cam Slaymaker sank a 3-pointer with seven minutes to go before Onyi Eyisi pushed the lead past 30 points on a layup. Arman Pezeshkian scored his first career field goal as a Matador in the final minute as CSUN led by its biggest margin late at 35 points.
GAME NOTES
CSUN finished shooting 51.4 percent for the game while it knocked down 10-of-24 from 3-point range (41.7 percent). On the flip side, La Sierra shot 26.9 percent for the night. The Matadors out-rebounded the Golden Eagles 44-30. CSUN also held a 52-12 edge in points in the paint. The Matadors registered 23 assists to six turnovers.
All 15 Matadors who dressed played in the game while 13 players made at least one field goal. Onyi Eyisi just missed a double-double, posting a game-high 10 rebounds with eight points. Ethan Igbanugo had a team-high five assists to go with five points and five rebounds in his CSUN debut.
For La Sierra, Blake Bluitt had a game-high 16 points.
ACCORDING TO COACH TRENT JOHNSON
"I thought we got off to a good start in terms of our defensive effort. Then we got a little comfortable. We played a lot of guys, and we made the decision to give a lot of guys an opportunity early. I thought La Sierra does a good job of spreading you. We had a quickness advantage, but they did a really good job of making us guard on the perimeter. We had a hard time guarding them without fouling, but for the most part, we needed that. Our post guys need to be out on the perimeter and move their feet. Again, it's always good when a lot of guys get an opportunity to play.
"Like I told them, you need to enjoy it. I think it's been a long time for this basketball team and program where we've won a game like that. But more importantly, everybody played in the first half. With all that being said, we're off tomorrow, we have to sit it on a video on Utah Tech, which is a very good basketball team. It's their home opener. It was probably one of our best wins last year here [against Utah Tech]."
UP NEXT
CSUN will play the next five games on the road starting with a Saturday night match-up with Utah Tech. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. PDT on ESPN+. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call on GoMatadors.com/Radio.
#UniteTheValley
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Team Stats
LSU
CSUN
FG%
.269
.514
3FG%
.278
.417
FT%
.846
.800
RB
30
44
TO
12
6
STL
4
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
15
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
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