CSUN Grabs Share of First Place, Holds Off LBSU, 78-76

Saturday, February 21

Long Beach, Calif.

6:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

18-10,11-5Big West

Long Beach State

8-20,4-12Big West

CSUN

Long Beach St.

Photo by: Anthony Fortie

CSUN Grabs Share of First Place, Holds Off LBSU, 78-76

2/21/2026 8:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

LONG BEACH, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball held off a late charge from Long Beach State to post a 78-76 victory on Saturday at LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid. With the win, the Matadors moved into a three-way tie for first place in the Big West while CSUN also tied a school Division I record with its seventh straight victory.

Josiah Davis led the way with 21 points and nine assists while Joshua O'Garro had 13 points and seven rebounds. Grady Lewis added 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting and Mahmoud Fofana registered 10 points and nine rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED
CSUN opened with a 4-0 lead at the start before the Beach countered with back-to-back threes. The Beach held a 14-13 lead at the 16:07 mark of the first half, but the Matadors scored the next seven points with Jai Chisolm contributing five of those points. Near the nine-minute mark, Fofana scored four straight points in the paint as CSUN extended to a 30-19 lead. Lewis gave CSUN a big lift in the first half, scoring 10 of his 12 points as his three-point play with 4:32 to play in the first half put the Matadors ahead 41-31. CSUN maintained its lead for the remainder of the first half, taking a 46-38 advantage to intermission after a late three from the Beach.

Grady Lewis cleans up the play with a big dunk!

He has scored a season-high 12 points tonight. #GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/65n656yu1a
— CSUN Men's Basketball (@CSUNMBB) February 22, 2026

The Matadors opened the second half with buckets from Davis and James Evans Jr. to extend back to a double-digit lead. Near the 14-minute mark, CSUN opened up its biggest lead of the night at 60-43 when Davis scored in the paint. The Beach though would not go away quietly. Out of a timeout, Long Beach State scored the next 10 points to pull to within seven until O'Garro broke the string with a driving layup. CSUN appeared to pull away with a 9-0 run, powered by seven points from Davis, to extend to a 71-54 lead. However, the Beach made one last push down the stretch, beginning with a 13-2 run. Shaquil Bender made 4-of-4 threes in the second half to lead the comeback charge as his three with 1:59 left made it a 75-72 game.

With the lead nearly gone, Davis found Jordan Brinson for a timely three with 1:16 to go to push the lead to six. Long Beach State though scored the next four with Bender knocking down another three to pull to within 78-76. In the final seconds, the Beach had two chances to hit the game-tying basket, but each went off the mark, securing a Matador victory.

Captain Canada is just too tough ??

Josiah Davis now up to 14 points as CSUN has opened up a 60-43 lead.#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/XphLKcO2R0
— CSUN Men's Basketball (@CSUNMBB) February 22, 2026

NOTES OF THE GAME

CSUN improved to 18-10 overall and 11-5 in Big West play while Long Beach State dropped to 8-20 overall and 4-12 in conference.
With the win, coupled with a UC Irvine loss and a Hawai'i win on Saturday, CSUN now holds a share of the Big West lead with the Anteaters and Rainbow Warriors at identical 11-5 records.
The Matadors shot 47.8 percent overall while they made 3-of-10 threes (30.0 percent) and 9-of-18 free throws (50.0 percent). The Beach finished at 43.1 percent from the field, hitting 12-of-26 threes (46.2 percent) and 14-of-19 free throws (73.7 percent).
On the glass, CSUN out-rebounded Long Beach State 38-33. The Matadors also finished with a 60-18 edge in points in the paint.
Evans chipped in eight points on 4-of-6 shooing. Off the bench, CSUN picked up five points each from Chisolm and Brinson.
For Long Beach State, Bender had a game-high 27 points.

ACCORDING TO COACH ANDY NEWMAN
"Winning Division I games on the road is hard, especially against a team like that, who is so well coached and has so much firepower. We're going to take that. Obviously, we're coming out of there with the right mindset, we've got to get better. We have to finish games off better. We know that and it's great that we learn those lessons without having to take a loss in the process."

UP NEXT
CSUN hosts UC Irvine on Thursday, Feb. 26 in a battle of first place teams. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. on ESPN+ with Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister on the call.

#GoMatadors