A Homespun Victory for Northridge

NORTHRIDGE —  Sure, Matador Gym looks like one you’d find at a high school. And, no, Cal State Northridge doesn’t usually draw more than 700 fans for basketball.

Perhaps most pleasing to visiting teams for much of the Matadors’ Division I history, the team they came to play wasn’t very good.

But, believe it or not, Matador Gym is no longer an easy place for teams to swing into town for a victory.

Northridge won its fifth consecutive home game on Wednesday night, crushing Sacramento State, 99-64, in a Big Sky Conference game before a crowd of 620 fans, including about 40 in the Chaminade High band.

“Our [crowd] numbers still aren’t where we’d like them to be, and hopefully it will improve when school gets back in session,” said Northridge Coach Bobby Braswell. “But our guys like being in our locker room and on the floor they practice on and with all their family and friends in the stands.”

Northridge (7-8, 3-2 in conference) equaled last season’s victory total and played like an entirely different team than the one that lost on the road last weekend to Montana State and Montana.

“It’s home cookin’. It’s just nice to be home in front of our fans,” Northridge forward Tom Samson said.

The Matadors showed the kind of home-court basketball they will need to maintain while playing five of six conference games at Northridge before heading on the road for five of the last six.

The margin of the victory--the third largest for Northridge against a Division I team--was important because it gave the Matadors a chance to give plenty of minutes to the reserves, saving the starters for tonight’s home game against Weber State.

“I think the bench won it for us,” said Northridge forward Keith Higgins.

Sha-Ron Elzy, the only player who didn’t make the 12-man travel roster last week, scored a career-high 12 points as bench players totaled 57.

No starter played more than 25 minutes, with Keith Higgins scoring 14 points in 18 minutes.

The Matadors came out playing some of their best basketball of the season. They were able to work the ball in the half-court offense for good shots, which has been a problem.

Northridge had a season-high 22 assists and shot 57.1%.

The prettiest play came with about nine minutes to go in the half, when Derrick Higgins had the ball near the three-point line and made a quick pass to Samson in the post. Samson fired the ball back to Higgins, who took one dribble and left his feet just outside the lane for a one-handed dunk.

Northridge went back to the full-court pressing defense it hadn’t used in the past few games. The pressure helped force Sacramento (2-10, 1-2) into 26 turnovers and 29.2% shooting in the first half.

Northridge had a season-high 17 steals, six by Derrick Higgins.