Matadors Win Double OT Thriller at Cal Poly

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball (6-16, 2-7 Big West) held off Cal Poly in double overtime 83-78 on Thursday at Mott Athletics Center. In a game where the Matadors let a 10-point lead slip away in the final minute of regulation and Christian Gray scored a put-back layup to tie the game to end the first overtime, the Matadors prevailed in double overtime to complete a season sweep of the Mustangs.

Elijah Hardy scored a game-high 26 points including 11 in double overtime while Atin Wright finished with 24 points and Miles James had a career-high 17 points and nine rebounds.

The teams finished nearly identical in field goal percentage as the Matadors shot 42.6 percent while the Mustangs posted a 42.9 percentage. CSUN went 12-for-25 from 3-point range (48.0 percent) compared to the Mustangs who went 7-of-28 (25.0 percent). Cal Poly feasted at the free throw line, making 23-of-29 (79.3 percent) while the Matadors connected on 19-of-34 attempts (55.9 percent). The teams posted 41 rebounds apiece in the game. CSUN had a 23-4 edge in second-chance points.

GAME BREAKDOWN
Hardy got the Matadors' offense started by scoring seven of his team's first nine points to push CSUN ahead 9-2. James would also give the Matadors a lift in the first half, knocking down all three of his attempts from the 3-point arc. Near the eight-minute mark of the first half, James connected on back-to-back treys that extended the lead to double digits. Wright also stroked a jumper at the 6:28 mark that gave CSUN its biggest lead of the first half at 28-15.

The Mustangs though made a run near the end of the first half as CSUN went the final six-plus minutes without a field goal. Camren Pierce helped lead the comeback charge with eight points over the final six minutes to pull Cal Poly to within 30-24 at intermission.

Pierce would bring the Mustangs closer on an early bucket in the second half, however, the Matadors went on an 11-0 run. Wright scored five points during the run while James capped the scoring barrage with a driving layup near the 14-minute mark. Cal Poly responded with an 8-1 run before Hardy gave the Matadors a much-needed hoop from 3-point range to extend to a 45-36 lead. After 3-pointers from Hardy and Wright, Onyi Eyisi gave CSUN a 13-point lead once more at 53-40 with 4:36 left to play.

Seemingly in control, the Matadors led 58-48 with 1:01 to play before Cal Poly put together a frantic late-game rally. The Matadors turned the ball over three times in the final 60 seconds of regulation and missed two free throws while the Mustangs picked up a 3-pointer from Kobe Sanders and five points from Brantly Stevenson in the final eight seconds. Stevenson would make a buzzer-beating banked 3-point shot to tie the game at 59-59, sending the game to overtime.

The Mustangs built a 65-61 lead in the first overtime before a key Wright 3-pointer and Eyisi free throw tied the game with 1:13 to play. Once again, it would be a thrilling finish in the final seconds of overtime. Stevenson made a go-ahead basket with six seconds to play before the Matadors streaked up the court looking to respond. Hardy missed a 3-pointer but Gray was able to clean up the play with a game-tying put-back basket to beat the buzzer.

The teams played to a second overtime session where Hardy took over offensively. Hardy scored the Matadors' first 10 points of overtime as his triple with 2:02 remaining put CSUN ahead 77-72. Wright also knocked down a key 3-pointer with 48 seconds to go, giving the Matadors an 80-75 edge. CSUN would make three free throws over the final 29 seconds to seal the victory.

GAME NOTES
Hardy went 5-of-13 from 3-point range to go with four assists and two steals. Wright also connected on 4-of-7 attempts from 3-point range and had four rebounds. Gray's two points to send the game into double overtime were his only points in the game. The trio of Hardy, Wright and James played 47 minutes apiece.

For the Mustangs, Alimamy Koroma had a team-high 20 points while Stevenson and Sanders had 17 points apiece.

ACCORDING TO COACH TRENT JOHNSON
"We were up 13, we come out of a timeout and I didn't have my guys prepared for a press. There was a foul and deep three. They went down 10 and got momentum. I was livid at myself and Darius was down on himself because he lost the kid. Like I told the kids, it's not your fault. I should have been ahead of the possession but after that, we did everything we could to try and lose the game. But for us to make plays in the first overtime and to make plays in the second overtime --- you know what, it's a learning [experience]. We showed great poise on the road because we just collapsed with about three minutes to go and I was at the front of the collapse.

"Fans might ask what happened when we were up 13. [Cal Poly] came out, they pressed, we had a turnover and I didn't tell my guys to be ready but we got out of it with a win and we showed some determination. For example, Fidelis missed a point-blank layup and it could have been demoralizing but his teammates picked him up. Considering how we've been struggling to win games, to win this on the road is good."

UP NEXT
CSUN travels to CSU Bakersfield on Saturday at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ while Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister are on the call at GoMatadors.com/Radio.

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Team Stats

Elijah Hardy

Atin Wright

Miles James

Onyi Eyisi

Players Mentioned

Onyi Eyisi

Christian Gray

Elijah Hardy

Miles James

Atin Wright