Thursday, January 5
Northridge, Calif.
7:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
3-11,0-3Big West
74
vs
84
Long Beach State
7-8,1-2Big West
1
2
F
Long Beach St.
41
43
84
CSUN
31
43
74
Photo by: Jordan Young
Matadors Drop Hard-Fought Contest to LBSU
1/5/2023 9:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---On a night where CSUN honored the late Nick Herrmann, the Matadors fell to Long Beach State 84-74 on Thursday night at Premier America Credit Union Arena.
Four Matadors scored in double figures led by Dionte Bostick with 22 points while De'Sean Allen-Eikens chipped in with 15 points. Fidelis Okereke recorded his second career double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds. The Matadors trimmed a 20-point deficit to single digits in the closing minutes of the game but it was not enough to overcome the Beach.
The Matadors missed their first three shots to begin the game while the Beach began the game on a 9-0 run. CSUN would answer with 3-point baskets from Bostick and Allen-Eikens to quickly pull to within three. Moments later, the Matadors pulled to within two after an Atin Wright jumper but the Beach scored the next six points, four of which on second chance points. Okereke gave the Matadors a lift off the bench throughout the night as his putback dunk cut the Beach lead to 18-13.
After a steal and layup from Okereke, Long Beach State scored the next seven in a row to extend the lead to 33-18. CSUN though chipped away at the lead, eventually pulling to within eight after six-straight points from Bostick. Late in the half, Onyi Eyisi scored off a feed from Wright to bring the Matadors to within eight but the Beach picked up a basket from Joel Murray at the buzzer for a 41-31 lead at the break.
CSUN went without a point over its first five possessions to start the second half while the Beach scored the first five points to go ahead by a 46-31 margin. The lead would swell to 20 points at 57-37 after Murray scored in transtition at the 14:31 mark of the half.
Despite the double-digit deficit, the Matadors would continue to fight down the stretch of the game. A 9-2 CSUN run trimmed the Beach lead to 59-47 with under 12 minutes to play. The Matadors fell behind by 18 again before completing a 7-0 run, capped by a Bostick basket to pull to within 11 (65-54). Bostick finally cut the lead to single digits with 1:36 left to play on a drive in the lane. Murray though made six free throws in the final two minutes of play to help keep the Matadors at bay.
Â
GAME NOTES
CSUN honored the late Nick Herrmann prior to Thursday's game as Herrmann's mother, sister, girlfriend and stepfather joined the Matadors on the court for a special ceremony.
The Beach (7-8, 1-2 Big West) shot 48.4 percent for the game while the Matadors (3-11, 0-3 Big West) finished 41.9 percent from the floor. CSUN made 16-of-22 from the free throw line (72.7 percent) compared to the Beach who shot 17-of-26 (65.4 percent). Long Beach State out-rebounded CSUN 46-32 and led in second chance points 22-16.
Atin Wright shook off a tough shooting game (3-for-14) to finish with 10 points and three assists. Wright has scored in double figures in seven consecutive games and in 12 of 14 games overall. Off the bench, Marcel Stevens scored eight points on 3-of-3 shooting in 18 minutes.
For the Beach, Joel Murray had a team-high 20 points while Lassina Traore had 15 points and 16 rebounds.
ACCORDING TO COACH TRENT JOHNSON
"I feel for my guys. That's a good team we played. They handled us about as good as anybody has physically. We knew coming in they were wounded because they lost two. They did a good job defensively on [Atin] in terms of forcing him into stuff and we got frustrated. But we were able to play some guys that hadn't played and got some minutes. You've just got to tip your hat to them. We couldn't guard them, we couldn't keep them off the glass. My goodness, we score 74 at home. Fidelis played really well. And they get 84. It was an easy 84 at times. As hard as it is for all of us right now, we've just got to keep plugging."
Â
UP NEXT
CSUN hits the road for a Saturday matchup with UC Riverside. Tip-off is slated for 5 p.m. on ESPN+. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call in an audio broadcast on GoMatadors.com/Radio.
Â
#UniteTheValley
Â
Four Matadors scored in double figures led by Dionte Bostick with 22 points while De'Sean Allen-Eikens chipped in with 15 points. Fidelis Okereke recorded his second career double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds. The Matadors trimmed a 20-point deficit to single digits in the closing minutes of the game but it was not enough to overcome the Beach.
The Matadors missed their first three shots to begin the game while the Beach began the game on a 9-0 run. CSUN would answer with 3-point baskets from Bostick and Allen-Eikens to quickly pull to within three. Moments later, the Matadors pulled to within two after an Atin Wright jumper but the Beach scored the next six points, four of which on second chance points. Okereke gave the Matadors a lift off the bench throughout the night as his putback dunk cut the Beach lead to 18-13.
After a steal and layup from Okereke, Long Beach State scored the next seven in a row to extend the lead to 33-18. CSUN though chipped away at the lead, eventually pulling to within eight after six-straight points from Bostick. Late in the half, Onyi Eyisi scored off a feed from Wright to bring the Matadors to within eight but the Beach picked up a basket from Joel Murray at the buzzer for a 41-31 lead at the break.
CSUN went without a point over its first five possessions to start the second half while the Beach scored the first five points to go ahead by a 46-31 margin. The lead would swell to 20 points at 57-37 after Murray scored in transtition at the 14:31 mark of the half.
Despite the double-digit deficit, the Matadors would continue to fight down the stretch of the game. A 9-2 CSUN run trimmed the Beach lead to 59-47 with under 12 minutes to play. The Matadors fell behind by 18 again before completing a 7-0 run, capped by a Bostick basket to pull to within 11 (65-54). Bostick finally cut the lead to single digits with 1:36 left to play on a drive in the lane. Murray though made six free throws in the final two minutes of play to help keep the Matadors at bay.
Â
GAME NOTES
CSUN honored the late Nick Herrmann prior to Thursday's game as Herrmann's mother, sister, girlfriend and stepfather joined the Matadors on the court for a special ceremony.
The Beach (7-8, 1-2 Big West) shot 48.4 percent for the game while the Matadors (3-11, 0-3 Big West) finished 41.9 percent from the floor. CSUN made 16-of-22 from the free throw line (72.7 percent) compared to the Beach who shot 17-of-26 (65.4 percent). Long Beach State out-rebounded CSUN 46-32 and led in second chance points 22-16.
Atin Wright shook off a tough shooting game (3-for-14) to finish with 10 points and three assists. Wright has scored in double figures in seven consecutive games and in 12 of 14 games overall. Off the bench, Marcel Stevens scored eight points on 3-of-3 shooting in 18 minutes.
For the Beach, Joel Murray had a team-high 20 points while Lassina Traore had 15 points and 16 rebounds.
ACCORDING TO COACH TRENT JOHNSON
"I feel for my guys. That's a good team we played. They handled us about as good as anybody has physically. We knew coming in they were wounded because they lost two. They did a good job defensively on [Atin] in terms of forcing him into stuff and we got frustrated. But we were able to play some guys that hadn't played and got some minutes. You've just got to tip your hat to them. We couldn't guard them, we couldn't keep them off the glass. My goodness, we score 74 at home. Fidelis played really well. And they get 84. It was an easy 84 at times. As hard as it is for all of us right now, we've just got to keep plugging."
Â
UP NEXT
CSUN hits the road for a Saturday matchup with UC Riverside. Tip-off is slated for 5 p.m. on ESPN+. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call in an audio broadcast on GoMatadors.com/Radio.
Â
#UniteTheValley
Â
Team Stats
LBSU
CSUN
FG%
.484
.419
3FG%
.278
.286
FT%
.654
.727
RB
46
32
TO
12
10
STL
6
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
22
FGM
9
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballTexas State vs. Eastern Washington
Saturday, November 20
Texas State vs. Dixie State
Friday, November 19
A Conversation With Mark Gottfried
Friday, June 19
Preseason chat with Terrell Gomez
Thursday, October 03