Saturday, February 8
Long Beach, Calif.
4:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
17-7,9-4Big West
81
at
80
Long Beach State
7-18,3-10Big West
1
2
F
CSUN
43
38
81
Long Beach St.
41
39
80
Photo by: Chuck Marvel
CSUN Holds Off Long Beach State for Fourth Straight Win
2/8/2025 8:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LONG BEACH, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball pulled out an 81-80 road victory against Long Beach State on Saturday at Walter Pyramid. Marcus Adams Jr. had a game-high 25 points while Keonte Jones flirted with a triple double, finishing with 19 points, 14 rebounds, eight assists and three blocks. Scotty Washington had 12 points and PJ Fuller II registered 11 in the win.
CSUN improves to 17-7 overall and 9-4 in Big West play. The Matadors are 10 games over the .500 mark for the first time since the 2007-08 season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Matadors jumped out to a 4-0 start before the Beach answered with five in row for an early lead. Adams was hot in the early going, hitting back-to-back threes to help CSUN to a 10-7 lead at the 16:15 mark of the first half. A Scotty Washington jumper gave the Matadors an 18-11 lead at the 12-minute mark, but the Beach fought their way back with a 9-0 run, capped by a Christian Richardson bucket. The teams traded leads until CSUN opened a 26-23 lead on a Grady Lewis putback. Long Beach State though would not go away as five consecutive points put the home team in front. Fuller would drain a three to give CSUN the lead once more at 33-32. Down the stretch, the Beach clawed to within one but Washington hit a late bucket and Jones made two free throws to maintain a slim Matador 43-41 lead at the break.
Â
After forcing a pair of turnovers, CSUN opened up a 47-41 lead on a Fuller field goal a minute into the second half. The next five points went to the Beach, but Jones followed with two straight baskets to go with a steal for a 51-46 lead. CSUN picked up two consecutive baskets from Lewis on drives to the hoop before Jones completed a 10-0 run to push the lead to the biggest of the game at 57-46 with 14:58 to go. However, the Beach fought back once more as TJ Wainwright capped a 7-0 run with a layup inside. CSUN gained a pair of timely baskets from Adams, one of which from distance, to open up a 62-53 advantage with 12:21 to play. Jones threw down a dunk to put the Matadors ahead by double digits with 6:29 to go before Long Beach State answered with buckets from Austin Johnson and Kam Martin. Wainwright drilled a three with 3:30 to go, cutting CSUN's lead down to 77-73, but Adams followed with a clutch layup on the ensuing possession.
Â
CSUN held a lead until the final minute as Adams made two free throws to push the lead to 81-75. Moments later, Wainwright sank an NBA three to make it a one possession game. CSUN would commit a costly turnover on its next possession, but tough Matador defense led to a missed shot from Devin Askew from mid-range. Fuller picked up the defensive rebound then the final ticks went off the clock. With no time left, a technical foul was called on CSUN, giving Askew a chance to make two free throws and set the final score at 81-80.
NOTES OF THE GAME
ACCORDING TO COACH ANDY NEWMAN
"Craziest game I've been a part of in a long time but happy to come out on top. Our effort was a little sporadic but enough at times and when it really mattered. And that's the most important part.
[Keonte] was a leader, a stud and the reason why we won. His effort, his tenacity and his will to win was apparent out there. Some of those rebounds he came down with and some of the plays he made when we made that run to really push that thing up were all him. This game right here had his name written all over it."
UP NEXT
CSUN will be off until next Saturday when it hosts Cal Poly at 5 p.m. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call on ESPN+ and GoMatadors.com/Radio.
#GoMatadors
Â
CSUN improves to 17-7 overall and 9-4 in Big West play. The Matadors are 10 games over the .500 mark for the first time since the 2007-08 season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Matadors jumped out to a 4-0 start before the Beach answered with five in row for an early lead. Adams was hot in the early going, hitting back-to-back threes to help CSUN to a 10-7 lead at the 16:15 mark of the first half. A Scotty Washington jumper gave the Matadors an 18-11 lead at the 12-minute mark, but the Beach fought their way back with a 9-0 run, capped by a Christian Richardson bucket. The teams traded leads until CSUN opened a 26-23 lead on a Grady Lewis putback. Long Beach State though would not go away as five consecutive points put the home team in front. Fuller would drain a three to give CSUN the lead once more at 33-32. Down the stretch, the Beach clawed to within one but Washington hit a late bucket and Jones made two free throws to maintain a slim Matador 43-41 lead at the break.
Â
Keonte doing Keonte things.
— CSUN Men's Basketball (@CSUNMBB) February 9, 2025
CSUN with a slim lead at Long Beach. #GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/wXV2dDmnXj
After forcing a pair of turnovers, CSUN opened up a 47-41 lead on a Fuller field goal a minute into the second half. The next five points went to the Beach, but Jones followed with two straight baskets to go with a steal for a 51-46 lead. CSUN picked up two consecutive baskets from Lewis on drives to the hoop before Jones completed a 10-0 run to push the lead to the biggest of the game at 57-46 with 14:58 to go. However, the Beach fought back once more as TJ Wainwright capped a 7-0 run with a layup inside. CSUN gained a pair of timely baskets from Adams, one of which from distance, to open up a 62-53 advantage with 12:21 to play. Jones threw down a dunk to put the Matadors ahead by double digits with 6:29 to go before Long Beach State answered with buckets from Austin Johnson and Kam Martin. Wainwright drilled a three with 3:30 to go, cutting CSUN's lead down to 77-73, but Adams followed with a clutch layup on the ensuing possession.
Â
Breaking the press before PJ Fuller II comes away with a big bucket!
— CSUN Men's Basketball (@CSUNMBB) February 9, 2025
CSUN up 77-70 with under 4 minutes to go. #GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/NoOx22CceC
CSUN held a lead until the final minute as Adams made two free throws to push the lead to 81-75. Moments later, Wainwright sank an NBA three to make it a one possession game. CSUN would commit a costly turnover on its next possession, but tough Matador defense led to a missed shot from Devin Askew from mid-range. Fuller picked up the defensive rebound then the final ticks went off the clock. With no time left, a technical foul was called on CSUN, giving Askew a chance to make two free throws and set the final score at 81-80.
NOTES OF THE GAME
- The Matadors won despite being outshot on the night. CSUN finished shooting 45.5 percent overall while making 4-of-11 threes (36.4 percent) and 17-of-21 free throws (81.0 percent). Long Beach State shot 50.0 percent overall while hitting 11-of-24 threes (45.8 percent) and 13-of-22 free throws (59.1 percent).
- CSUN out-rebounded the Beach 39-33 and held a 42-28 advantage in points in the paint.
- Jones registered his 11th double-double of the season.
- Adams was 9-of-14 from the floor and totaled seven rebounds.
- Mahmoud Fofana totaled eight points and three rebounds.
- The Matadors completed their first season sweep of Long Beach State since 2020.
ACCORDING TO COACH ANDY NEWMAN
"Craziest game I've been a part of in a long time but happy to come out on top. Our effort was a little sporadic but enough at times and when it really mattered. And that's the most important part.
[Keonte] was a leader, a stud and the reason why we won. His effort, his tenacity and his will to win was apparent out there. Some of those rebounds he came down with and some of the plays he made when we made that run to really push that thing up were all him. This game right here had his name written all over it."
UP NEXT
CSUN will be off until next Saturday when it hosts Cal Poly at 5 p.m. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call on ESPN+ and GoMatadors.com/Radio.
#GoMatadors
Â
Team Stats
CSUN
LBSU
FG%
.455
.500
3FG%
.364
.458
FT%
.810
.591
RB
39
33
TO
10
13
STL
7
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
25
FGM
9
3FGM
3
FTM
4
Pts
19
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
F/C
/ Men's BasketballG/F
/ Men's BasketballTexas State vs. Eastern Washington
Saturday, November 20
Texas State vs. Dixie State
Friday, November 19
A Conversation With Mark Gottfried
Friday, June 19
Preseason chat with Terrell Gomez
Thursday, October 03