Steve Virgen Sometimes a team has too...

Steve Virgen

Sometimes a team has too much momentum, and that can go a long way

in the Big West Conference. Take for instance, the Cal State

Northridge men’s basketball team, which overcame an emotional day

that included a car wreck Thomas Armand was involved in early

Saturday morning. The Matadors have also had to conquer an 0-4 start

in Big West action.

On Saturday night, Northridge won its third straight game,

outscoring UCI, 10-3, in the final 4:20, leading to a 69-63 victory

in front of 1,268 at the Matadome. The Anteaters (11-5, 5-2 in the Big West), in first place in the Big West entering Saturday, moved to

a second-place tie with UC Santa Barbara, while Utah State, a 61-60

winner over visiting Fullerton, took the first place position.

“I’m really blessed by this win,” Northridge Coach Bobby Braswell

said. “The day started real shaky for us. I got a phone call early in

the morning from Armand. He had been in a terrible car accident (two

sports utility vehicles). The car flipped over. He was just shocked.

The police said he should have been dead and the driver should have

been dead. We spent a lot of time talking about life. We missed

shoot-around today. I’m just blessed our family is still together and

God gave us a victory tonight.”

Armand grabbed a key rebound with 38 seconds left and his team

leading 66-63. He was immediately fouled and hit one of two free

throws for a 67-63 lead.

Northridge (9-8, 3-4) also overcame a dismal first-half shooting

performance, 9 of 31 for 29%, to snap UCI’s four-game winning streak.

The Anteaters missed 5 of 7 free throws in a 3:27 span late in the

fourth quarter. Adam Parada, UCI’s junior center who entered Saturday

with a .813 percentage from the foul line (13 of 16) in Big West

games, missed four free throws. Junior forward Greg Ethington missed

the front of a one-and-one opportunity. Parada scored 10 poipnts and

grabbed seven rebounds.

“We got the ball inside,” UCI Coach Pat Douglass said. “But we

went to the line and we couldn’t capitalize on our free throws. That

eventually caught up to us. We had our opportunities. You look at the

free-throw situation down the stretch. We got the ball to Adam. Most

of the time he’s a good free-throw shooter. But tonight wasn’t his

night.”

The night, instead, belonged to 6-foot-7 senior guard Curtis

Slaughter, who scored a game-high 21 points, including a career-high

four three-pointers all of which came in the second half.

“This is a big step up,” Slaughter said of the Matadors’ win. “We

started from the bottom and now we seem to be climbing back up.

Everyone is playing on defense, now.”

Northridge earned its first lead of the game with 5:39 remaining

after 6-6 sophomore Ian Boylan nailed an 8-foot baseline jumper for a

61-60 lead. But UCI answered with two free throws by senior Jordan

Harris, who scored a team-high 19 points. Mike Hood continued his hot

shooting and finished with 17 points, which included 4 for 5 on

three-pointers and 5 of 5 from the free-throw line.

Slaughter scored with 4:15 left, and Northridge went up, 61-60.

Later, out of a timeout, Slaughter converted a three-point play after

he cut to the basket on a backdoor play. The Matadors led, 64-60.

Harris made three straight free throws with 1:58 left after he was

fouled on an outside attempt.

But, with 57 seconds left, Boylan hit an high-arching jump shot in

the lane over Parada, giving Northridge a 66-63 lead.

In the first half we didn’t capitalize,” Douglass said. “We had a

lot of opportunities inside, but we didn’t play strong with the ball.

They got on a roll in the second half. They made a lot of difficult

shots, Slaughter especially.”

UCI led by as many as 12 in the first half after Stanislav Zuzak

scored on a one-handed shot in the post for a 24-12 lead with 7:48

left. But Northridge scored nine straight points. The Anteaters were

able to gain a 35-29 lead before halftime. UCI finished 18 of 49 from

the field (36.7%) and was outrebounded, 42-39.

ZOTS - There will be two free tickets to UCI’s men’s basketball

game with UC Santa Barbara Thursday night available to the first 50

fans Monday morning at the front office of the Daily Pilot, part of

Thursday night’s Daily Pilot Night at the Bren ... Also, with a

coupon from today’s and Monday’s Pilot, fans can purchase four

tickets for the price of one at the box office Thursday evening ...

UCI is now 10-4 when scoring 60 points or more ... Hood has made all

21 of his free-throw attempts this season ... The game marked a

return to the Matadome for UCI assistant coach Mike Johnson. He was

the associate head coach at Northridge last year.