Finley Almost Does It All for Bakersfield : But Hawkins’ Shot Sinks CSUN, 66-63

He didn’t make the game-winning shot, but don’t tell anyone from the Cal State Northridge basketball team that they got beaten by anyone other than Karl Finley on Friday night.

About the only important shot Finley didn’t make was the winning one as Cal State Bakersfield defeated Northridge, 66-63, in a California Collegiate Athletic Assn. game in the CSUN gym.

That distinction went to Earl Hawkins, a recently demoted starter who came in just in time to swish a 20-footer from the top of the key with three seconds left.

Hawkins, who had been a starter most of the season, played only 16 minutes. He was put into the game during a timeout with 29 seconds left. So why was he demoted?

“He just hadn’t been playing well, said Jim Parks, Bakersfield’s coach. “He’s been pressing and very erratic.”

Just the kind of guy you want gunning from three-point country with three ticks left on the clock.

There wouldn’t have been such a situation if it hadn’t been for Finley, however.

The 6-2 senior scored 17 points, including nine in a stretch of 2:13 just after Northridge had caught and passed the Roadrunners.

Bakersfield held a six-point lead at the half and stretched its advantage to 50-40 with 15 minutes left in the game.

Less than a minute later, however, that margin was only four as CSUN’s Todd Bowser made a 5-footer, Paul Drecksel scored on a layup and Ray Horwath made a 15-footer.

Northridge shot only 39.3% in the first half, but the Matadors heated up considerably in the second, especially from three-point range. CSUN trimmed Bakersfield’s lead by three points in the first four minutes, even though the Roadrunners scored their first seven times down the floor in the second half.

The Matadors went on a 15-2 run during a five-minute span and took a 55-52 lead.

It was then that Finley took over. On consecutive trips down the floor, Finley made two 15-footers, a three-pointer and a driving 5-footer. Score: 61-57, Bakersfield.

“I think that was the greatest half he’s had in two years here,” Parks said. “The game was being decided right there.”

Troy Dueker, who drew the unenviable assignment of trying to guard Finley, was equally impressed.

“He’s a very good one-on-one player,” he said. “They cleared everyone out for him and I wasn’t able to play him as tight as I wanted to--body him--because I had four fouls.”

After Finley had hit his first three shots, Northridge Coach Pete Cassidy turned to Jimmy Daniels, who at 6-3 is at least three inches taller than Dueker.

“We need somebody to put a hand in his face,” Cassidy said. “Troy was with him, but he was shooting right over him.”

Dueker made up for his lack of height by sinking a 17-footer from the baseline with 34 seconds left to tie the score, 63-63.

That set up Hawkins, who made the shot over--you guessed it--Dueker.

“We put (Pat) Bolden on Finley because we figured they’d go to him,” Cassidy said. “We wanted Daniels in there, too, because of his size, but he was too sick to play. During the last timeout, he said he was about to get sick.”

Divine intervention?

Northridge, which got 16 points from both Daniels and Paul Drecksel, dropped to 3-3 in conference and 7-12 overall. The Matadors are tied fourth with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, whom they play at home tonight.