CSUN Falls to Long Beach State, 72-59

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball (7-17, 3-8 Big West) dropped a 72-59 decision to first-place Long Beach State (15-9, 10-1 Big West) in a Big West Conference game on Thursday at The Matadome. Fidelis Okereke came off the bench to record his first career double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Elijah Hardy added 13 points and four rebounds while Atin Wright registered 12 points.

The Matadors shot 37.3 percent for the game while they held the Beach to 39.7 percent shooting. CSUN would make 3-of-15 from 3-point range (20.0 percent) compared to Long Beach State which made 8-of-20 attempts (40.0 percent). At the free throw line, Long Beach State converted on 18-of-19 attempts (94.7 percent) while CSUN made 12-of-17 (70.6 percent). The Matadors out-rebounded the Beach 38-36. The two teams committed a combined 41 turnovers in the game as CSUN had 22 and Long Beach State finished with 19.

GAME BREAKDOWN
The teams traded the lead seven times in what would be a back-and-forth battle for most of the first period. Long Beach State staked to an early 7-4 lead before the Matadors answered for five-straight points to take the lead. Playing at an up-tempo pace, the Beach took a 14-11 lead on a Jadon Jones basket before Onyi Eyisi converted on a 3-point play on the following possession. The Beach quickly regained the lead on a Drew Cobb basket before going ahead 19-16 on a Jones 3-point play.

The Matadors though continued to keep pace with the Beach, taking a 27-23 lead on a 3-pointer from Hardy. However, the Matadors would go cold from the field over the final minutes of the half while the Beach reclaimed the lead with a 7-0 run. Christian Gray would end a near four-minute scoreless string with a basket at the 4:39 mark but it was the Matadors' final basket of the half. Colin Slater sank a 3-pointer the next time down the floor before Jones drained another shot from long range a minute later. The Beach completed a 10-0 run on two late free throws from Cobb as the Matadors went into intermission trailing 40-29.

CSUN committed two turnovers to begin the second half before Wright ended the scoreless drought at the 18:50 mark. Moments later, Wright would pull the Matadors to within six points (40-34) on a 3-point basket. The Matadors completed five-straight defensive stops and had an opportunity to cut the lead to four points but Gray was whistled for an offensive foul. The Beach again took advantage, scoring four-straight points to extend to a double-digit lead.

Jones paced the Beach in the second half, scoring 17 points as his 3-pointer with 14:18 remaining put CSUN in a 51-36 hole. CSUN saw the deficit climb to 20 points at the nine-minute mark before answering with back-to-back baskets from Okereke. The Matadors chipped away at the lead, eventually pulling to within 65-53 with under six minutes to play but the Beach responded with four-straight points. The Beach never led by less than 13 points in the closing minutes as Jones capped his scoring output with a field goal with 1:37 left to play.

GAME NOTES
Okereke finished 5-of-7 from the field and posted six offensive rebounds. His 14 total rebounds are a new career-high while he has three double-digit rebounding efforts on the season. Upfront, Gray chipped in with six points, five rebounds and three steals. Darius Beane also had seven points and four rebounds.

For Long Beach State, Jones had a game-high 25 points while Joel Murray had 18 points and four assists. The Beach have won 11 consecutive games.

ACCORDING TO COACH TRENT JOHNSON
"When you play good teams and they're well-coached, you have to play well because they're not going to beat themselves. Our effort was good but it was our inability when things got tough and they got up and got after us, to make the solid play like catch the ball with two hands, hit the guy on the backdoor cut and play off of two feet."

"The disappointing thing was that we broke down in our transition defense on made baskets. We did not get back and it seemed like we were always on our heels. It's a quick turnaround. In terms of us, we have to regroup because now we are playing Fullerton."

UP NEXT
The Matadors stay at home for a Saturday match-up with Cal State Fullerton at 7 p.m. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister are on the call on ESPN+ and GoMatadors.com/Radio. CSUN will celebrate the life of former men's basketball coach and Matador Hall of Famer Pete Cassidy during halftime of the game.

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Team Stats

Fidelis Okereke

Elijah Hardy

Atin Wright

Darius Beane

Players Mentioned

Darius Beane

Onyi Eyisi

Christian Gray

Elijah Hardy

Fidelis Okereke

Atin Wright