Northridge Gets Rid of Aftertaste

The Cal State Northridge basketball team got back on the winning track Monday night, breezing past Oral Roberts, 72-59, in a nonconference game before 793 at Northridge.

The Matadors (3-2) took the lead for good at 8-6, building a 17-point second-half advantage and keeping the Golden Eagles (4-4) from mounting a serious threat.

For Northridge, the victory cleansed the sour taste of a 97-88 overtime loss at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Saturday night, after which Coach Bobby Braswell criticized his team’s effort.

After reviewing videotape of the game Sunday, Braswell offered a different opinion to his players.

“We played well against Cal Poly,” Braswell said. “We graded the tape and we saw a lot of hustle by players. We just didn’t do enough to win.

“I’m on them a lot. But I told them if we come out and play with the same effort, we’ll win tonight.”

The Matadors appeared to get the message.

Northridge outrebounded Oral Roberts, 43-30, and four players scored in double figures.

They included reserve forward Whitney White, who scored all of his 10 points in the first half, which ended with the Matadors ahead, 41-27.

Center Dan Read scored four of his six points in the second half, including an authoritative dunk in the opening seconds.

Jeff Parris led the Matadors with 12 points, despite making only four of 15 free throws.

An offensive showcase it wasn’t, but Northridge’s defense showed its mettle.

“That’s how we beat teams, with defense,” White said. “All teams have their runs and great teams counter their runs. That’s what we did.”

Forward Hewitt Rolle had 11 points and led Northridge with 11 rebounds.

“We were kind of upset by the loss the other night,” Rolle said. “That was a team we shouldn’t have lost to. We executed tonight, that was the difference. Against Cal Poly, we didn’t do the little things that we need to do to win. Our game plan tonight was to come out and play defense.”

Northridge held its biggest lead, 47-30, on a free throw by Brian Heinle early in the second half. Oral Roberts never came closer than eight points afterward.

Northridge plays Saturday at Oregon, where Braswell formerly served as an assistant.

“When you look at the scheme of things, we’re headed in the right direction,” Braswell said. “Defensively, we challenged them to step it up and they did.”

Heinle scored 10 points for Northridge.

Forward Andre Larry, playing in his third game since returning from a two-game suspension, scored eight points and had six rebounds for the Matadors, who shot 53.1% from the field (26 of 49), including two of seven from three-point range.

Reggie Tate led Oral Roberts with 26 points and Nathan Binam added 11 points. Tate made four of nine three-point shots.

Derrick Taylor led the Golden Eagles with seven rebounds and had nine points. Oral Roberts shot 30.6% from the field (15 of 49), including eight of 22 from three-point range.