Long Beach Falls At Northridge
Kevin Roberts Scores 21 Points In Defeat
January 10, 2004
NORTHRIDGE, CA-- Cal State Northridge shot an impressive .590 (23-39) from the field and forced 21 Long Beach State turnovers in a convincing 79-57 win on Saturday night at The Matadome. Davin While led CSUN (6-6, 2-2 Big West) with 20 points. The 49ers (4-9, 2-2) were led by senior Kevin Roberts' 21 points.
The two teams played a relatively even first half as Northridge headed into the lockerroom with a 36-31 lead. Both teams shot over .500 from the field, LBSU .524 (11-21) and CSUN .526 (10-19), but the Matadors out-scored the 49ers 8-2 in the final four minutes to take the halftime lead. Long Beach rebounded from a 27-21 deficit at the 7:38 mark to take a 28-27 lead after a three-pointer by Roberts at 5:51. That would be the last field goal the 49ers would score in the stanza, connecting on three free throws the remainder of the half. White had seven of the final 10 Matador points to close out the half.
In the second half it was all Northridge. Leading 41-33 early on, CSUN quickly pushed the lead to 14 points (46-34) before expanding the margin to 23 points (63-40) with 11:01 on the clock.
The 49ers were able to slow down the Matadors, holding them scoreless for five and a half minutes, before a Chris Davis free throw broke the spell, giving CSUN a 64-48 lead with 5:34 on the clock. Long Beach could only score eight points in that span.
Roberts was the only 49er in double digits, with his 21 points. Marcel Jackson had nine points, seven in the second half, and Chris Jenkins added six. The 49ers were beaten badly on the backboards 27-16, their lowest rebound total of the season. Jenkins led the way with three rebounds. The 49ers shot a decent .475 (19-40) for the game, but were just 3-16 from 3-point range.
The game was marred by several fouls, 46 to be exact, 23 on each team. Northridge was 28-33 at the charity stripe while the 49ers were 16-25.
Chris Davis had 15 points for Northridge off the bench, hitting 4-5 shots from the field and 7-10 at the line. Joseph Frazier chipped in with 13 points and Eto Onyenegecha had 12.
The 49ers will next be in action on Thursday, January 15 when they host Cal State Fullerton at 7:35 pm in The Pyramid.
BOX SCORE
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