Saturday, February 25
Long Beach, Calif.
4:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
7-23,4-15Big West
64
at
71
Long Beach State
16-14,10-8Big West
1
2
F
CSUN
28
36
64
Long Beach St.
35
36
71
Photo by: Connor Clark
Short-Handed Matadors Drop Close Contest at LBSU
2/25/2023 6:39:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LONG BEACH, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball gave Long Beach State a battle but would fall 71-64 on Saturday at the Gold Mine. De'Sean Allen-Eikens scored a team-high 21 points while Ethan Igbanugo had 19 points and four assists. Marcel Stevens chipped in with 11 points and five assists. The Matadors, who played without leading scorer Atin Wright, tied the game late in the second half twice but could not hold off the Beach in the closing minutes.
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CSUN would lean on the 3-point shot throughout the game including in the first half where CSUN made 8-of-18 attempts. After early threes from Allen-Eikens and Igbanugo, Stevens would give CSUN an 11-9 edge on a three of his own at the 15:43 mark of the first half. The Beach reclaimed the lead with a 6-0 run but the Matadors collected three consecutive shots from downtown to pull in front, 20-18.
Moments later, Marcus Tsohonis spearheaded a 9-0 Beach run, scoring seven of those points as Long Beach State forged ahead. Igbanugo ended a near four-minute scoring drought for CSUN with another trey but Tone Hunter scored on the ensuing possession. The Matadors' eighth three went down with three minutes to play courtesy of Cam Slaymaker before the Beach scored three late free throws for a 35-28 lead at intermission.
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CSUN closed the gap to 38-35 on an Allen-Eikens layup but the Beach scored the next six-straight points to open the second half. Lassina Traore stretched the Beach lead to as many as 11 points at 55-44 near the eight-minute mark of the half. The Matadors though continued to battle down the stretch of the game. After Igbanugo nailed another 3-pointer, Allen-Eikens completed a traditional 3-point play. A steal from Stevens also led to another Allen-Eikens basket that pulled CSUN to within 55-52.Â
Off the bench, Arman Pezeshkian gave the Matadors a lift down the stretch, collecting a steal along with assists on game-tying shots from Igbanugo and Fidelis Okereke. With the game squared at 61-61, AJ George gave the Beach the lead right back with a corner three. CSUN trailed by only two when Tsohonis missed a jumper but Aboubacar Traore tipped in a timely basket for the Beach. Moments later, Tsohonois knocked down a 3-pointer to quickly extend the lead to 69-62.
Pezeshkian's two made free throws with a minute to play were the final Matador points of the day as the Beach held on in the closing seconds.
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GAME NOTES
CSUN (7-23, 4-15 Big West) shot 42.1 percent from the field while making 11-of-28 from 3-point range (39.3 percent) and 5-of-9 at the free throw line (55.6 percent). In contast, LBSU finished with a 59.1 field goal percentage to go with 4-of-10 shooting from 3-point range (40.0 percent) and 15-of-22 shooting at the free throw line (68.2 percent). The Beach out-rebounded CSUN by a 28-26 margin and led in points in the paint, 38-26.
De'Sean Allen-Eikens made 8-of-12 from the field as he finished a point shy of his career high in scoring. Ethan Igbanugo converted 5-of-8 shots from 3-point range. Both Allen-Eikens and Igbanugo played 39 minutes. Arman Pezeshkian dished out four assists to go with two steals in 10 minutes on the floor.
For Long Beach State, Lassina Traore had a team-high 18 points while Aboubacar Traore had a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
ACCORDING TO COACH TRENT JOHNSON
"I thought we competed extremely hard. We executed down the stretch like we haven't all year versus a very good athletic team on the road. They put a lot of pressure on you because they can go though the post. I feel for the guys in the locker room. The element of toughness and togetherness we displayed, especially from some guys that hadn't played a lot, was really impressive. I wish I could of helped more down the stretch but you have to tip your hat to Long Beach.
We had 19 assists and 14 turnovers against this team. I thought we recognized their pressure and did a good job. I thought De'Sean was really good. I thought Ethan was really good tonight."
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UP NEXT
CSUN wraps up the regular season with Senior Night on Thursday. The Matadors host Hawai'i at 7 p.m. on ESPN+ with Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister on the call. CSUN will honor its three-member senior class of Onyi Eyisi, Arman Pezeshkian and Ethan Igbanugo before the game.
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#UniteTheValley
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CSUN would lean on the 3-point shot throughout the game including in the first half where CSUN made 8-of-18 attempts. After early threes from Allen-Eikens and Igbanugo, Stevens would give CSUN an 11-9 edge on a three of his own at the 15:43 mark of the first half. The Beach reclaimed the lead with a 6-0 run but the Matadors collected three consecutive shots from downtown to pull in front, 20-18.
Moments later, Marcus Tsohonis spearheaded a 9-0 Beach run, scoring seven of those points as Long Beach State forged ahead. Igbanugo ended a near four-minute scoring drought for CSUN with another trey but Tone Hunter scored on the ensuing possession. The Matadors' eighth three went down with three minutes to play courtesy of Cam Slaymaker before the Beach scored three late free throws for a 35-28 lead at intermission.
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CSUN closed the gap to 38-35 on an Allen-Eikens layup but the Beach scored the next six-straight points to open the second half. Lassina Traore stretched the Beach lead to as many as 11 points at 55-44 near the eight-minute mark of the half. The Matadors though continued to battle down the stretch of the game. After Igbanugo nailed another 3-pointer, Allen-Eikens completed a traditional 3-point play. A steal from Stevens also led to another Allen-Eikens basket that pulled CSUN to within 55-52.Â
Off the bench, Arman Pezeshkian gave the Matadors a lift down the stretch, collecting a steal along with assists on game-tying shots from Igbanugo and Fidelis Okereke. With the game squared at 61-61, AJ George gave the Beach the lead right back with a corner three. CSUN trailed by only two when Tsohonis missed a jumper but Aboubacar Traore tipped in a timely basket for the Beach. Moments later, Tsohonois knocked down a 3-pointer to quickly extend the lead to 69-62.
Pezeshkian's two made free throws with a minute to play were the final Matador points of the day as the Beach held on in the closing seconds.
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GAME NOTES
CSUN (7-23, 4-15 Big West) shot 42.1 percent from the field while making 11-of-28 from 3-point range (39.3 percent) and 5-of-9 at the free throw line (55.6 percent). In contast, LBSU finished with a 59.1 field goal percentage to go with 4-of-10 shooting from 3-point range (40.0 percent) and 15-of-22 shooting at the free throw line (68.2 percent). The Beach out-rebounded CSUN by a 28-26 margin and led in points in the paint, 38-26.
De'Sean Allen-Eikens made 8-of-12 from the field as he finished a point shy of his career high in scoring. Ethan Igbanugo converted 5-of-8 shots from 3-point range. Both Allen-Eikens and Igbanugo played 39 minutes. Arman Pezeshkian dished out four assists to go with two steals in 10 minutes on the floor.
For Long Beach State, Lassina Traore had a team-high 18 points while Aboubacar Traore had a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
ACCORDING TO COACH TRENT JOHNSON
"I thought we competed extremely hard. We executed down the stretch like we haven't all year versus a very good athletic team on the road. They put a lot of pressure on you because they can go though the post. I feel for the guys in the locker room. The element of toughness and togetherness we displayed, especially from some guys that hadn't played a lot, was really impressive. I wish I could of helped more down the stretch but you have to tip your hat to Long Beach.
We had 19 assists and 14 turnovers against this team. I thought we recognized their pressure and did a good job. I thought De'Sean was really good. I thought Ethan was really good tonight."
Â
UP NEXT
CSUN wraps up the regular season with Senior Night on Thursday. The Matadors host Hawai'i at 7 p.m. on ESPN+ with Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister on the call. CSUN will honor its three-member senior class of Onyi Eyisi, Arman Pezeshkian and Ethan Igbanugo before the game.
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#UniteTheValley
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Team Stats
CSUN
LBSU
FG%
.421
.591
3FG%
.393
.400
FT%
.556
.682
RB
26
28
TO
14
14
STL
9
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
8
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
19
FGM
7
3FGM
5
FTM
0
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
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