CS Northridge Wakes Up in Time to Defeat Biola, 62-54

After sleepwalking through the last 11 minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half Wednesday night, Cal State Northridge got a wake-up call from Derrick Gathers in a nonconference basketball game against Biola.

With his team trailing by 10 points with 16 minutes left, Gathers hit a three-point shot to pull the Matadors within seven and jump-start them to a 62-54 victory at CSUN.

Although an eight-point win over an NAIA team won’t raise any eyebrows among Northridge’s rivals in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn., it did snap a three-game losing streak and improve the Matadors’ record to 4-7.

“We came back well in the second half,” Northridge Coach Pete Cassidy said. “We had some timely, if not a lot of, turnovers. I don’t know if our press bothered their shooting that much, but it took them out of their rhythm.”

Trailing, 35-28, after Gathers hit his first three-point shot of the game, Northridge went on a 15-8 run to tie the score, 43-43, on Shanan Rosenberg’s layup off a Gathers assist.

The Matadors took the lead on another three-point shot by Gathers, but Biola countered with a 5-0 run to take a 48-46 lead with 7:15 left.

Northridge never trailed again, however. Percy Fisher hit two baskets in a row, and, after Jon Dwyer tied the score, 50-50, Kris Brodowski hit a short jump shot, Jemarl Baker converted two free throws and Kendell McDaniels scored on another Gathers assist.

“Derrick is capable of being a great catalyst for us,” Cassidy said. “He has that ability to make things happen. But at times he has a tendency to deviate from the team defense to Derrick Gathers defense in an effort to make something happen.”

Most of Gathers’ actions provided positive results for Northridge on Wednesday. The 6-foot-3 senior had 14 points, a game-high 12 rebounds, five assists, two blocked shots and a steal.

Baker added 11 points, while McDaniels and Brodowski had nine and eight, respectively. Jimmy Hill scored a game-high 15 points for Biola (5-11), but Northridge shut him out in the last 7:37.

The Matadors trailed, 29-22, at halftime after missing nine of their previous 11 shots. Northridge hit nine of its first 15 shots to take an 18-12 lead with 8:35 left in the half. Then the Matadors sputtered, however, and Biola countered with a 17-4 run to end the first half.

The Eagles hit seven of 12 shots during their surge, including five baskets in a row, while Northridge failed to score a point for more than three minutes. Hill (eight points), Kellie McKinney (six) and Gregory Spruell (six) led Biola’s charge.