CSUN Wins Third Straight, Tops Life Pacific 98-67

Friday, November 17

Northridge, Calif.

1:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

3-1,0-0Big West

Life Pacific

0-2

LIFE Pacific

CSUN

Photo by: Chuck Marvel

CSUN Wins Third Straight, Tops Life Pacific 98-67

11/17/2023 3:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball posted a wire-to-wire 98-67 victory over Life Pacific on Friday afternoon at Premier America Credit Union Arena. Five Matadors scored in double figures while nine total scored points. Dionte Bostick led the way with 20 points. De'Sean Allen-Eikens added 19 points and Jordan Brinson chipped in with 16 points and six assists.

HOW IT HAPPENED
CSUN scored the game's first five points at the outset and would build a quick 12-2 lead after Jordan Brinson picked off a pass and drove to the hoop for a basket. Bostick would lead CSUN in the first half, scoring 17 of his 20 points in the opening stanza. After Bostick scored six unanswered CSUN points, Brinson scored in the paint for a CSUN 20-5 lead. Life Pacific would battle back though behind six 3-pointers in the first half, eventually cutting the deficit to 32-24 with 6:30 on the clock. However, Bostick converted on a three-point play, which was followed by baskets from Brinson and Keonte Jones to help push the lead back to 12. Dearon Tucker closed the period with a jumper to give CSUN a 51-38 lead at the break.

Jordan Brinson with a dunk! The assist goes to Jared Barnett! #CSUN builds up its lead against Life Pacific, 20-5! #goMatadors pic.twitter.com/GSWW8qL2Sy
— CSUN Men's Basketball (@CSUNMBB) November 17, 2023

De'Sean Allen-EIkens opened the second-half scoring for CSUN with a dunk then Jones scored in transition to quickly build the lead to 55-40. The Matadors would put the game out of reach with a 16-0 run in the early minutes of the second half. During that stretch, four different Matadors converted on baskets and CSUN forced four turnovers en route to taking a 71-42 lead. Near the midway point of the half, Bryan Ndjonga got into the scoring act with four-straight points. Moments later, Allen-Eikens drilled a three followed by a Jones trey as the lead grew to 80-49. In the closing minutes, Kyle Frelow scored his first Matador points at the free throw line before making a field goal while Ndjonga added a block and a dunk in transition. Brinson finished the Matador scoring with a late layup for a 31-point win.

Bryan Ndjonga lands a dunk for the Matadors! #CSUN builds to a 29-point lead, 96-67! #goMatadors pic.twitter.com/tQyB6Sfx9c
— CSUN Men's Basketball (@CSUNMBB) November 17, 2023

NOTES OF THE GAME

CSUN improves to 3-1 on the season while Life Pacific stays at a 3-1 record as Friday's game was considered an exhibition on its schedule.
The Matadors shot 51.9 percent for the game while making 7-of-16 from three (43.8 percent) and 11-of-16 at the free throw line. Life Pacific finished with a 40.3 field goal percentage to go with shooting 10-of-36 from 3-point range (27.8 percent) and 3-of-4 at the free throw line (75.0 percent).
CSUN dominated the glass, out-rebounding Life Pacific 56-25 while the Matadors feasted in points in the paint, outscoring the opposition 66-24.
Keonte Jones recorded his second double-double of the season, registering 14 points and 13 rebounds. Mahmoud Fofana chipped in with 10 points and five rebounds.
Dearon Tucker set a new personal high in rebounds with CSUN, charting 10 boards to go with four points.

ACCORDING TO COACH ANDY NEWMAN
"I just wanted to see the guys play together. When we have teams like this come in for your home opener, you just want to play a good brand of basketball. I thought we did that for the most part. It took us a while to settle in but we kind of figured it out. We started playing together and started playing team basketball on both ends of the floor, and that's what you're looking for."

#CSUN Coach Andy Newman shares his thoughts on the game! #goMatadors pic.twitter.com/fWnJywofvf
— CSUN Men's Basketball (@CSUNMBB) November 17, 2023

UP NEXT
CSUN continues a three-game homestand with a matchup with Le Moyne on Tuesday, Nov. 21. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call on ESPN+ and GoMatadors.com/Radio.

#GoMatadors