Northridge Finishes 8-3 at Home by Beating Northeastern Illinois

Cal State Northridge squandered a 22-point lead and survived a scare from Northeastern Illinois before securing a 72-66 victory in front of 1,076 Saturday night at Matador Gymnasium.

The Matadors (11-15) finished their home schedule with an 8-3 mark, their best home record since the 1987-88 season. It was Northridge’s 10th victory in its last 13 games.

Shelton Boykin and Andre Chevalier led Northridge with 14 points each. Boykin, a 6-foot-5 senior, also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.

Keith Gibbs, the team’s captain and top player, missed the game to attend his stepfather’s funeral. Gibbs also missed Northridge’s last game against Northeastern Illinois, a 76-74 overtime victory last month, to be at his grandfather’s funeral.

“I promised Keith we would win this game for him,” Chevalier said.

Northeastern Illinois (8-17) cut the lead to five points with 1:14 left, but two free throws each by Boykin and Chevalier clinched it for Northridge.

Because of a scoreboard malfunction, the game was played without a visible clock or score.