Thursday, February 8
Northridge, Calif.
7:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
15-9,6-6Big West
78
vs
65
Cal Poly
4-20,0-12Big West
1
2
F
Cal Poly
30
35
65
CSUN
33
45
78
Photo by: Connor Clark
CSUN Downs Cal Poly Behind Balanced Effort
2/8/2024 9:46:00 PM | Men's Basketball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball won its second straight by knocking off Cal Poly 78-65 on Thursday evening at Premier America Credit Union Arena. Dionte Bostick scored a game-high 23 points to go with five steals while De'Sean Allen-Eikens added 18 points and Gianni Hunt chipped in with 13 points and eight assists. Keonte Jones registered his fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
CSUN went just 2-of-7 to start from the field with three turnovers in the opening seven-plus minutes of the game but managed to only trail 10-4. Gianni Hunt and Dionte Bostick converted on baskets to bring CSUN to within two before the Mustangs went on a 5-0 spurt to extend to a seven-point lead (20-13) at the 9:35 mark of the first half. A minute later, CSUN would start to turn the game around as an 11-0 run, closed by a Bostick three-point play put the Matadors on top 26-22. The Mustangs sank a pair of late threes and eventually take a 30-28 lead with 1:21 left on the clock, but CSUN scored the final five points of the half with Bryan Ndjonga's three giving the home team a 33-30 lead at the break.
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CSUN's defense would be the story to start the second half as the Mustangs missed nine of its first 10 shots and committed seven turnovers over the first nine-plus minutes. Meanwhile, CSUN scored the first 10 points of the second half with Gianni Hunt's dunk extending the lead to 43-30. Keonte Jones would bring the CSUN faithful to their feet as well with a thunderdous dunk plus a foul at the 10:56 mark of the second half.
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Bostick extended the lead to the biggest of the night at 53-38 with 8:17 remaining. The Mustangs would manage to pull to within 11 with 3:03 remaining, but CSUN scored the next four highlighted by a Bostick dunk. The Matadors' lead was cut to 10 in the final minute, but CSUN converted on free throws to secure the win.
NOTES OF THE GAME
ACCORDING TO COACH ANDY NEWMAN
"It's good to see us offensively play a little bit better, and start to trust our break and each other. We've still got to figure these starts out. We're really too slow out of the blocks offensively. We've got to fix that.
"It's no secret with this group, we're going to win and lose based on our second-half defensive field goal percentage and our defensive effort."
UP NEXT
CSUN hits the road to take on UC Santa Barbara on Saturday evening at 7 p.m. on ESPN+. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call at GoMatadors.com/Radio.
#GoMatadors
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HOW IT HAPPENED
CSUN went just 2-of-7 to start from the field with three turnovers in the opening seven-plus minutes of the game but managed to only trail 10-4. Gianni Hunt and Dionte Bostick converted on baskets to bring CSUN to within two before the Mustangs went on a 5-0 spurt to extend to a seven-point lead (20-13) at the 9:35 mark of the first half. A minute later, CSUN would start to turn the game around as an 11-0 run, closed by a Bostick three-point play put the Matadors on top 26-22. The Mustangs sank a pair of late threes and eventually take a 30-28 lead with 1:21 left on the clock, but CSUN scored the final five points of the half with Bryan Ndjonga's three giving the home team a 33-30 lead at the break.
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Ending the first half in style. ??
— CSUN Men's Basketball (@CSUNMBB) February 9, 2024
CSUN leads 33-30 at the break after this @BryanNdjonga triple.#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/ItGiMBpG5c
CSUN's defense would be the story to start the second half as the Mustangs missed nine of its first 10 shots and committed seven turnovers over the first nine-plus minutes. Meanwhile, CSUN scored the first 10 points of the second half with Gianni Hunt's dunk extending the lead to 43-30. Keonte Jones would bring the CSUN faithful to their feet as well with a thunderdous dunk plus a foul at the 10:56 mark of the second half.
Â
Hello, @ESPNAssignDesk. It's us, @CSUNMBB.
— CSUN Men's Basketball (@CSUNMBB) February 9, 2024
Just popping in to say Keonte Jones did it again.#GoMatadors x #SCTop10 x @Jelly_Keonte pic.twitter.com/L5vPr2KC2F
Bostick extended the lead to the biggest of the night at 53-38 with 8:17 remaining. The Mustangs would manage to pull to within 11 with 3:03 remaining, but CSUN scored the next four highlighted by a Bostick dunk. The Matadors' lead was cut to 10 in the final minute, but CSUN converted on free throws to secure the win.
NOTES OF THE GAME
- CSUN improves to 15-9 overall and 6-6 in Big West play while Cal Poly falls to 4-20 overall and 0-12 in conference action.
- CSUN shot 52.6 percent from the field while going 2-of-9 from three (22.2 percent) and 16-of-22 from the free throw line (72.7 percent). Cal Poly was held to 37.5 percent shooting while the Mustangs went 10-of-30 from three (33.3 percent) and 13-of-19 from the foul line (68.4 percent).
- The Matadors out-rebounded the Mustangs 39-29.
- CSUN would also outscore the opposition 52-20 in points in the paint and 26-8 in fastbreak points.
- CSUN's 15 overall wins and six conference wins this season are the program's most since the 2019-20 campaign.
- On the year, the Matadors improve to 9-3 at home.
ACCORDING TO COACH ANDY NEWMAN
"It's good to see us offensively play a little bit better, and start to trust our break and each other. We've still got to figure these starts out. We're really too slow out of the blocks offensively. We've got to fix that.
"It's no secret with this group, we're going to win and lose based on our second-half defensive field goal percentage and our defensive effort."
UP NEXT
CSUN hits the road to take on UC Santa Barbara on Saturday evening at 7 p.m. on ESPN+. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call at GoMatadors.com/Radio.
#GoMatadors
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Team Stats
CPO
CSUN
FG%
.375
.526
3FG%
.333
.222
FT%
.684
.727
RB
29
39
TO
19
19
STL
10
12
Game Leaders
Pts
23
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
18
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
F
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