Photo by: Chuck Marvel
CSUN Continues Homestand with Two Games This Week
11/20/2023 12:21:00 PM | Men's Basketball
FULL GAME NOTES
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball (3-1) continues its three-game homestand with a pair of games inside Premier America Credit Union Arena. The Matadors host Le Moyne on Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. before wrapping up the week with a Friday night matchup with Mississippi Valley State at 7 p.m.
Both games this week are a part of the 2023 Golden State Hoops Jam. CSUN is hosting two games in the tournament while Pacific is hosting Le Moyne and MVSU as well later this week in Stockton, Calif.
HOW TO FOLLOW
All 16 CSUN home games this season will be broadcast on ESPN+ while each home and away game will have free audio broadcasts available to stream at GoMatadors.com/Radio or on the Varsity Network App. For road games, related links to video stream and live stats will be posted on the men's basketball schedule page at GoMatadors.com. Fans are also encouraged to check the CSUN Men's Basketball team's official Twitter feed @CSUNMBB for updates of games in progress and news and notes. For the 11th-straight season, CSUN's broadcasting duo of Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister will call each Matador game in 2023-24.
ABOUT LAST WEEK
CSUN ran its winning streak to three games after a pair of wins last week. The Matadors closed a three-game road trip with a 74-64 victory over Chicago State on Nov. 14. CSUN would host NAIA Life Pacific in its home opener on Friday with the Matadors cruising to a 98-67 victory.
CSUN notched its second consecutive road win at Chicago State with Dionte Bostick scoring a team-high 20 points. After leading early, CSUN would go into halftime trailing 35-31. The Matadors though rallied after intermission, eventually making eight-straight field goals to build a double-digit lead. Bostick and De'Sean Allen-Eikens scored a combined 25 points in the second half while the Matadors shot 64 percent from the field in the period en route to the victory.
The Matadors had five score in double figures in a wire-to-wire win over Life Pacific. Bostick once again led the team with 20 points while Allen-Eikens added 19. CSUN raced out to a 20-5 lead to start the game with CSUN gaining contributions from throughout its roster. Jordan Brinson chipped in with 16 points off the bench while Keonte Jones posted a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds. The Matadors stretched their lead to 30-plus points in the second half behind a 16-0 second-half run.
DE'SEAN ON THE DOORSTEP OF 1,000
Graduate De'Sean Allen-Eikens is expected to reach 1,000 career Division I points on Tuesday. Allen-Eikens currently stands at 993 points in his five-year collegiate career. In his second season with CSUN, Allen-Eikens netted 354 points a season ago while he has tallied 78 this year. He began his collegiate career with North Dakota where he totaled 478 points over two seasons while he scored 83 points in one season at New Orleans. In 88 total games, Allen-Eikens is averaging 11.3 points per game over his career.Â
RETURNERS LEADING THE WAY
Through four games, the Matadors have seen the returning duo of De'Sean Allen-Eikens and Dionte Bostick lead the way offensively. Allen-Eikens is topping the team in scoring at 19.5 points per game on 56.0 percent shooting to go with averaging 6.5 rebounds. Bostick is averaging 15.3 points on 45.8 percent shooting along with 3.3 rebounds per game. Senior center Dearon Tucker, another returning starter, is second on the team in rebounding at 7.3 per game to go with his 7.8 points per game.
NEW FACES CONTRIBUTING IMMEDIATELY
Junior transfer Keonte Jones (Midland College) has emerged as a top scorer and rebounder on the team this season, averaging 12.0 points and a team-high 7.5 rebounds. Up front, graduate forward Jasman Sangha (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) has come off the bench to average 8.3 points on 61.5 percent shooting. A grad transfer from San Diego State, Jared Barnett has started each game at point guard and averaged 5.8 assists per game while Mahmoud Fofana, a Cal State San Bernardino transfer, has registered 6.0 points and 4.8 rebounds. Jordan Brinson, a transfer from Fresno State, has totaled 16 points and eight rebounds in two games. Off the bench, freshman Bryan Ndjonga (Bella Vista Prep School) is averaging 5.5 points and 2.3 rebounds.
SCOUTING LE MOYNE
The Dolphins hold a 1-4 record in their first season as a Division I program. The team began last week with a 105-46 victory over SUNY Canton before falling on the road to San Diego (80-71) and UC Santa Barbara (96-72). Le Moyne was picked to finish ninth in the Northeast Conference this season. In 2022-23, Le Moyne went 15-15 overall as a Division II program. Prior to last season, Le Moyne had clinched NCAA Tournament berths in four of five seasons. Kaiyem Cleary has topped the team in scoring (11.3) and rebounding (6.5) while Ocypher Owens has averaged 10.6 points. Isaiah Salter, the team's top returning scorer, has averaged 7.8 points. Head coach Nate Champion is in his fifth season with the team.
Series History: CSUN is meeting Le Moyne for the first time in men's basketball.
SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE
The Delta Devils are 0-4 on the season with losses to the likes of LSU, Oklahoma, UConn and TCU. Prior to taking on CSUN, MVSU will visit Santa Clara. The team will play all 13 of its non-conference games away from home this year. After finishing 5-27 overall and 4-14 in conference play, the Delta Devils were selected to finish 12th in the Southwestern Athletic Conference in 2023-24. Rayquan Brown, the team's top returning scorer, is averaging a team-high 16.5 points to go with 5.5 rebounds per game. Other top scorers include Donovan Sanders (9.8 PPG) and Arecko Gipson (9.0 PPG). Head coach George Ivory is in his second season leading the Delta Devils.
Series History: The Matadors will take on Mississippi Valley State for the first-ever time in men's basketball.
#GoMatadors
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NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball (3-1) continues its three-game homestand with a pair of games inside Premier America Credit Union Arena. The Matadors host Le Moyne on Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. before wrapping up the week with a Friday night matchup with Mississippi Valley State at 7 p.m.
Both games this week are a part of the 2023 Golden State Hoops Jam. CSUN is hosting two games in the tournament while Pacific is hosting Le Moyne and MVSU as well later this week in Stockton, Calif.
HOW TO FOLLOW
All 16 CSUN home games this season will be broadcast on ESPN+ while each home and away game will have free audio broadcasts available to stream at GoMatadors.com/Radio or on the Varsity Network App. For road games, related links to video stream and live stats will be posted on the men's basketball schedule page at GoMatadors.com. Fans are also encouraged to check the CSUN Men's Basketball team's official Twitter feed @CSUNMBB for updates of games in progress and news and notes. For the 11th-straight season, CSUN's broadcasting duo of Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister will call each Matador game in 2023-24.
ABOUT LAST WEEK
CSUN ran its winning streak to three games after a pair of wins last week. The Matadors closed a three-game road trip with a 74-64 victory over Chicago State on Nov. 14. CSUN would host NAIA Life Pacific in its home opener on Friday with the Matadors cruising to a 98-67 victory.
CSUN notched its second consecutive road win at Chicago State with Dionte Bostick scoring a team-high 20 points. After leading early, CSUN would go into halftime trailing 35-31. The Matadors though rallied after intermission, eventually making eight-straight field goals to build a double-digit lead. Bostick and De'Sean Allen-Eikens scored a combined 25 points in the second half while the Matadors shot 64 percent from the field in the period en route to the victory.
The Matadors had five score in double figures in a wire-to-wire win over Life Pacific. Bostick once again led the team with 20 points while Allen-Eikens added 19. CSUN raced out to a 20-5 lead to start the game with CSUN gaining contributions from throughout its roster. Jordan Brinson chipped in with 16 points off the bench while Keonte Jones posted a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds. The Matadors stretched their lead to 30-plus points in the second half behind a 16-0 second-half run.
DE'SEAN ON THE DOORSTEP OF 1,000
Graduate De'Sean Allen-Eikens is expected to reach 1,000 career Division I points on Tuesday. Allen-Eikens currently stands at 993 points in his five-year collegiate career. In his second season with CSUN, Allen-Eikens netted 354 points a season ago while he has tallied 78 this year. He began his collegiate career with North Dakota where he totaled 478 points over two seasons while he scored 83 points in one season at New Orleans. In 88 total games, Allen-Eikens is averaging 11.3 points per game over his career.Â
RETURNERS LEADING THE WAY
Through four games, the Matadors have seen the returning duo of De'Sean Allen-Eikens and Dionte Bostick lead the way offensively. Allen-Eikens is topping the team in scoring at 19.5 points per game on 56.0 percent shooting to go with averaging 6.5 rebounds. Bostick is averaging 15.3 points on 45.8 percent shooting along with 3.3 rebounds per game. Senior center Dearon Tucker, another returning starter, is second on the team in rebounding at 7.3 per game to go with his 7.8 points per game.
NEW FACES CONTRIBUTING IMMEDIATELY
Junior transfer Keonte Jones (Midland College) has emerged as a top scorer and rebounder on the team this season, averaging 12.0 points and a team-high 7.5 rebounds. Up front, graduate forward Jasman Sangha (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) has come off the bench to average 8.3 points on 61.5 percent shooting. A grad transfer from San Diego State, Jared Barnett has started each game at point guard and averaged 5.8 assists per game while Mahmoud Fofana, a Cal State San Bernardino transfer, has registered 6.0 points and 4.8 rebounds. Jordan Brinson, a transfer from Fresno State, has totaled 16 points and eight rebounds in two games. Off the bench, freshman Bryan Ndjonga (Bella Vista Prep School) is averaging 5.5 points and 2.3 rebounds.
SCOUTING LE MOYNE
The Dolphins hold a 1-4 record in their first season as a Division I program. The team began last week with a 105-46 victory over SUNY Canton before falling on the road to San Diego (80-71) and UC Santa Barbara (96-72). Le Moyne was picked to finish ninth in the Northeast Conference this season. In 2022-23, Le Moyne went 15-15 overall as a Division II program. Prior to last season, Le Moyne had clinched NCAA Tournament berths in four of five seasons. Kaiyem Cleary has topped the team in scoring (11.3) and rebounding (6.5) while Ocypher Owens has averaged 10.6 points. Isaiah Salter, the team's top returning scorer, has averaged 7.8 points. Head coach Nate Champion is in his fifth season with the team.
Series History: CSUN is meeting Le Moyne for the first time in men's basketball.
SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE
The Delta Devils are 0-4 on the season with losses to the likes of LSU, Oklahoma, UConn and TCU. Prior to taking on CSUN, MVSU will visit Santa Clara. The team will play all 13 of its non-conference games away from home this year. After finishing 5-27 overall and 4-14 in conference play, the Delta Devils were selected to finish 12th in the Southwestern Athletic Conference in 2023-24. Rayquan Brown, the team's top returning scorer, is averaging a team-high 16.5 points to go with 5.5 rebounds per game. Other top scorers include Donovan Sanders (9.8 PPG) and Arecko Gipson (9.0 PPG). Head coach George Ivory is in his second season leading the Delta Devils.
Series History: The Matadors will take on Mississippi Valley State for the first-ever time in men's basketball.
#GoMatadors
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