Saturday, November 16
Sacramento, Calif.
5:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
3-1,0-0Big West
79
at
69
Sacramento State
1-3,0-0Big Sky
1
2
F
CSUN
32
47
79
Sacramento St.
43
26
69
Photo by: Chuck Marvel
Washington's Career Night Helps CSUN Rally at Sacramento State
11/16/2024 8:23:00 PM | Men's Basketball
SACRAMENTO, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball rallied from a 16-point deficit and outscored Sacramento State 15-2 to end the game in a 79-69 victory on Saturday at The Nest. Scotty Washington scored a career-high 27 points while Keonte Jones added 20 points, six rebounds and four assists. Mahmoud Fofana grabbed 10 rebounds to go with seven points on 3-of-4 shooting.
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The Matadors would outscore the Hornets 47-26 in the second half and hold the opposition to 32 percent shooting in the period.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
The Matadors came out firing, making their first six shot attempts with Washington contributing six early points. The Hornets though kept pace as the score was even at 15-15 through five minutes. From there, Sacramento State caught fire from the field, making six consecutive field goals including four from long range for a big 16-0 run. Julian Vaughns closed the run with a three making it a 31-15 with 11:40 on the clock. CSUN would begin to chip away at the deficit, scoring five in a row to pull to within 31-20. Sacramento State built its lead back to 38-23 near the six-minute mark, but CSUN countered with a 7-0 run with Tyler Beard scoring five points with 3:35 left to play. The Matadors though went scoreless over the next two-plus minutes to fall behind by 13 before Beard closed the half with late layup to pull CSUN to within 43-32 at halftime.Â
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The Hornets extended to a 50-36 lead two minutes into the second half, but the Matadors countered with the next eight points with Jones contributing six of those points. Jones later threw down a dunk on a drive in the lane as CSUN pulled to within 54-48. Sacramento State would score the next four to go ahead by double digits with 12:22 left to play, but Washington responded with a three. A Hornet personal foul coupled with a technical foul allowed Washington to drain four consecutive free throws, bringing the Matadors even closer. CSUN eventually pulled to within two points twice before finally evening the game at 61-61 when Marcus Adams Jr. picked up a steal and a layup on the other end. Sacramento State reclaimed the lead on a three on the next possession, but Washington delivered again, this time from long range to square the game at 64-64 with 5:46 left to play. The Hornets held a 67-64 lead on another three with under four minutes to go, however, the Matador defense did not allow another basket for nearly the rest of the game. Jones tied the game on a drive with 3:18 left before giving the Matadors the lead moments later following a steal from Washington.
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After Jones made two more free throws for a four-point lead, Washington bounced home a three plus a foul for an eventual four-point play. CSUN made four free throws in the final minute with the Hornets finally ending a 15-0 run with a layup on their final possession.
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NOTES OF THE GAME
"I challenged them. I thought we came out very poorly [in the first half] and we didn't play our brand of basketball at all. That happens sometimes, so we had a very spirited halftime talk. Just challenging them to compete in every aspect of the game, to compete for rebounds and to compete for closeouts and the ball. I thought in the first half, Sac State was quicker to the ball and wanted it more. Thankfully, we were able to get back to our way of basketball. We flipped that, and in the second half, we were the first guys to the ball, we out-rebounded them and we turned it into a game that's more into our liking."
UP NEXT
CSUN heads to Missoula, Montana to compete at the Stew Morrill Classic during Thanksgiving week. The Matadors face Utah Tech in the opener of the classic on Sunday, Nov. 24 at 1 p.m. PT.
#GoMatadors
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The Matadors would outscore the Hornets 47-26 in the second half and hold the opposition to 32 percent shooting in the period.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
The Matadors came out firing, making their first six shot attempts with Washington contributing six early points. The Hornets though kept pace as the score was even at 15-15 through five minutes. From there, Sacramento State caught fire from the field, making six consecutive field goals including four from long range for a big 16-0 run. Julian Vaughns closed the run with a three making it a 31-15 with 11:40 on the clock. CSUN would begin to chip away at the deficit, scoring five in a row to pull to within 31-20. Sacramento State built its lead back to 38-23 near the six-minute mark, but CSUN countered with a 7-0 run with Tyler Beard scoring five points with 3:35 left to play. The Matadors though went scoreless over the next two-plus minutes to fall behind by 13 before Beard closed the half with late layup to pull CSUN to within 43-32 at halftime.Â
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ÂOff the offensive rebound from Mahmoud Fofana, Tyler Beard drains the 3. #GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/uMOxMQ2o7z
— CSUN Men's Basketball (@CSUNMBB) November 17, 2024
The Hornets extended to a 50-36 lead two minutes into the second half, but the Matadors countered with the next eight points with Jones contributing six of those points. Jones later threw down a dunk on a drive in the lane as CSUN pulled to within 54-48. Sacramento State would score the next four to go ahead by double digits with 12:22 left to play, but Washington responded with a three. A Hornet personal foul coupled with a technical foul allowed Washington to drain four consecutive free throws, bringing the Matadors even closer. CSUN eventually pulled to within two points twice before finally evening the game at 61-61 when Marcus Adams Jr. picked up a steal and a layup on the other end. Sacramento State reclaimed the lead on a three on the next possession, but Washington delivered again, this time from long range to square the game at 64-64 with 5:46 left to play. The Hornets held a 67-64 lead on another three with under four minutes to go, however, the Matador defense did not allow another basket for nearly the rest of the game. Jones tied the game on a drive with 3:18 left before giving the Matadors the lead moments later following a steal from Washington.
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ÂDefense leading to offense as CSUN takes the lead! #GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/SZdJJ72YNe
— CSUN Men's Basketball (@CSUNMBB) November 17, 2024
After Jones made two more free throws for a four-point lead, Washington bounced home a three plus a foul for an eventual four-point play. CSUN made four free throws in the final minute with the Hornets finally ending a 15-0 run with a layup on their final possession.
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ÂSometimes it's just your night.
— CSUN Men's Basketball (@CSUNMBB) November 17, 2024
Scotty Washington bounces home a three plus a foul. #GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/6cFneoazP5
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NOTES OF THE GAME
- CSUN improves to 3-1 on the season while Sacramento State falls to 1-3.
- The Matadors finished shooting 50.0 percent for the night, shooting 53.6 percent in the second half. CSUN made 6-of-17 from three (35.3 percent) and 23-of-31 free throws (74.2 percent) while Sacramento State shot 41.5 percent overall to go with 10-of-30 shooting from three (33.3 percent) and 15-of-20 shooting from the free throw line (75.0 percent).
- On the glass, CSUN out-rebounded Sacramento State 35-31.
- Washington's career-high 27 points, surpassed his 26 scored as a member of California Baptist last season. He went 4-of-7 from long range on Saturday.
- Jones finished 7-of-11 from the field and 6-of-6 at the free throw line.
- Off the bench, Beard had nine points and Adams added eight.
- Jordan Brinson made his return to the court for the first time since Dec. 30, 2023. Brinson finished with two points and three rebounds in 12 minutes.Â
"I challenged them. I thought we came out very poorly [in the first half] and we didn't play our brand of basketball at all. That happens sometimes, so we had a very spirited halftime talk. Just challenging them to compete in every aspect of the game, to compete for rebounds and to compete for closeouts and the ball. I thought in the first half, Sac State was quicker to the ball and wanted it more. Thankfully, we were able to get back to our way of basketball. We flipped that, and in the second half, we were the first guys to the ball, we out-rebounded them and we turned it into a game that's more into our liking."
UP NEXT
CSUN heads to Missoula, Montana to compete at the Stew Morrill Classic during Thanksgiving week. The Matadors face Utah Tech in the opener of the classic on Sunday, Nov. 24 at 1 p.m. PT.
#GoMatadors
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Team Stats
CSUN
SacSt
FG%
.500
.415
3FG%
.353
.333
FT%
.742
.750
RB
35
31
TO
14
16
STL
6
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
27
FGM
7
3FGM
4
FTM
9
Pts
20
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG/F
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