CSUN Pulls Out 76-73 Win at Idaho for Newman's First Win

Thursday, November 9

Moscow, Idaho

6:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

1-1,0-0Big West

Idaho

0-2,0-0Big Sky

CSUN

Idaho

CSUN Pulls Out 76-73 Win at Idaho for Newman's First Win

11/9/2023 9:21:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

MOSCOW, Idaho---CSUN Men's Basketball earned a hard-fought 76-73 victory at Idaho on Thursday night at ICCU Arena. Four Matadors scored in double figures with De'Sean Allen-Eikens scoring a game-high 19 points. Keonte Jones recorded a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds off the bench while Dionte Bostick and Jasman Sangha had 12 points apiece. The win marked the first for head coach Andy Newman with the Matadors.

HOW IT HAPPENED
CSUN would dig an early 11-point hole at 17-6 in the early minutes of the first half. De'Sean Allen-Eikens though helped orchestrate an 11-0 run, capped by five consecutive points to put the Matadors on the top for the first time at 18-17 with 8:40 left in the first half. The Vandals would respond with an 8-2 surge with D'Angelo Minnis giving Idaho a 26-20 edge. Down the stretch of the first half though CSUN leaned on the play of Jasman Sangha. After four consecutive points to bring CSUN to within two, Sangha scored six unanswered CSUN points to put his team back ahead. A late jumper from Dionte Bostick helped give CSUN a 38-36 lead at intermission.

Everything working for Jasman Sangha tonight.

He's into double figures with 10 points in the first half.#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/asMoI5rPQ1
— CSUN Men's Basketball (@CSUNMBB) November 10, 2023

A pair of threes from Tyler Mrus opened the second half as the Matadors had to again play from behind. CSUN would go on an 8-0 run, capped by a Bryan Ndjonga field goal to take a 50-46 lead but the Vandals responded with their own 8-0 spurt. Idaho surged ahead to a 66-59 lead following a Terren Frank layup with 7:29 left to play.

Out of a timeout, CSUN once again made one final surge. Dearon Tucker scored for CSUN then Bostick forced a turnover and went to the free throw line and made both attempts. After a fifth consecutive CSUN defensive stop, Allen-Eikens capped a 7-0 run with a three. CSUN regained the lead on a Keonte Jones basket followed by a timely 3-pointer from Bostick to go ahead 72-68. Idaho would score the next five to take a one-point lead but CSUN went back in front on two more Bostick free throws. In the final minute, CSUN picked up two more defensive stops followed by two late free throws from Allen-Eikens to pick up the win.

SHEEEESH @iBostickDionte. ??#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/a69HCPDuU8
— CSUN Men's Basketball (@CSUNMBB) November 10, 2023

NOTES OF THE GAME

CSUN improves to 1-1 on the season while Idaho falls to 0-2.
The Matadors shot 42.4 percent from the floor while the Vandals finished shooting 46.7 percent.
CSUN went 4-for-13 from three (30.8 percent) and 16-of-20 at the free throw line (80.0 percent) compared to Idaho which shot 11-of-26 from three (42.3 percent) and 6-of-6 at the free throw line.
On the glass, CSUN surged to a 43-30 advantage with the Matadors posting 17 offensive rebounds.
De'Sean Allen-Eikens went 6-for-10 from the field while Keonte Jones had a 6-of-12 night from the floor.
Jared Barnett had seven rebounds, six assists and two steals in 35 minutes.
The Matadors earned their first road win in non-conference play since Nov. 28, 2021 in a 56-52 win over San Diego.

ACCORDING TO COACH ANDY NEWMAN
"I'm super proud with how physical we were. That's our brand of basketball right there. Learning from Monday night was huge. The mistakes we made against Stanford we didn't make tonight. Defensively, we were so good and solid down the stretch, it really turned it for us. I'm really proud of the effort of these guys, it was incredible."

UP NEXT
CSUN wraps up a three-game road stretch to start the year at Chicago State on Tuesday at 5 p.m. PT. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call in an audio broadcast at GoMatadors.com/Radio beginning at 4:45 p.m.

#GoMatadors