CSUN v. Portland 1

Like UCLA's game against Arizona yesterday, the Friday night game, January 2, between CSUN and Portland State in the Big Sky Conference opener was a game which will not be quickly forgotten by CSUN.

But on Friday night, the wheels just seemed to some off for the Matadors. CSUN was winning, and then managed to just get hammered by Portland State in the Big Sky Conference opener, 83-75.

And it was all the more surprising because Portland was coming off a 50 point loss to Duke, 89-39, one of the worst performances by a Division I team this season. And CSUN had just beaten Cal State Dominguez Hills by 44 points, 115-71 in a pure shooting exhibition.

Call it the rebound effect. Call it anything you want. CSUN is calling it a loss.

As of Saturday morning, Northridge was 4-7 on the season, and 0-1 in Big Sky Conference play. The Matadors stayed nearly even through the first half, but Portland State scored the first eight points of the second half and built a 15-point lead with 9:10 to play.

For Portland, forward Jason Hartman, a transfer from Washington, scored a career-high 33 points, making nine of 16 shots and all 14 of his free throws. Hartman, a junior from Thousand Oaks High, scored 22 in the second half and helped hold off a late CSUN rally by finishing a fast break with a dunk and free throw, to bring the score to 78-70 Portland, with only 45 seconds to play. This was Hartman's sixth game since gaining eligibility, and he came in shooting only 36%. But in this game, he shot 56% from the field and 100% from the line. And Hartman's shooting was contagious. Portland set a school-record 65% in shooting from the field, on 26 for 40, and also made 81% of their free throws, 27 of 33.

For CSUN, one of the big highlight was Mike O'Quinn, and he finished with only 10 points, hitting only three of 12 from the field and one free throw. Carl Holmes (6'-1" Fr G) had a team high 14 points, while Jabari Simmons (6'-7"Jr F) had 12 points. Greg Minor (6'-3" So. G) also had 10 points.

CSU NORTHRIDGE (75)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Oquinn          23  3-12   3-4   5-6  1  3   10
Parris          23   3-4   3-4   2-2  0  4    9
Simmons         31  6-19   0-0  8-10  2  4   12
Holmes          31  5-10   2-2   0-2  1  3   14
Grundy          20   3-4   0-0   0-1  4  1    8
Cross           20   3-6   1-2   0-1  2  5    9
Minor           27   2-6   4-6   1-5  3  1   10
Heinle           2   1-1   0-0   1-1  0  1    2
Taylor          14   0-3   0-0   2-3  0  1    0
Hagens           9   0-1   1-2   0-0  0  1    1

_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 26-66 14-20 19-31 13 24   75
_______________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.394, FT-.700. 3-Point Goals:
9-23, .391 (Oquinn 1-4, Simmons 0-2, Holmes 2-7,
Grundy 2-2, Cross 2-4, Minor 2-4). Team rebounds:
2. Blocked shots: None. Turnovers: 16 (Cross 4,
Oquinn 3, Grundy 2, Hagens 2, Holmes 2, Minor,
Parris, Simmons). Steals: 8 (Grundy, Hagens,
Heinle, Minor, Oquinn, Parris, Simmons, Taylor). .

PORTLAND ST (83)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Hartman         32  9-16 14-14   1-5  3  2   33
Nesland         23   1-3   0-0   0-1  2  3    3
Sanford         29   2-2   3-5   1-6  3  0    7
Towne           33   5-8   3-5   1-1  3  2   14
Garner          27   2-2   0-1   0-2  1  2    4
Rhymes          13   1-1   2-2   0-1  0  0    4
Mvogo            7   3-4   0-0   2-3  0  1    6
Snook           12   1-2   3-4   0-1  4  3    6
Price            1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Ambrose         17   1-1   2-2   0-1  3  5    4
Artharee         6   1-1   0-0   0-1  0  3    2
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 26-40 27-33  5-22 19 21   83
_______________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.650, FT-.818. 3-Point Goals: 4-9, .444
(Hartman 1-3, Nesland 1-2, Towne 1-2, Snook 1-2).
Team rebounds: 5. Blocked shots: 6 (Sanford 3, Garner,
Rhymes, Ambrose). Turnovers: 21 (Sanford 4, Hartman 3,
Nesland 3, Ambrose 2, Garner 2, Rhymes 2, Towne 2,
Artharee, Mvogo, Snook). Steals: 9 (Hartman 4, Garner 2,
Nesland, Rhymes, Sanford)

CSUN is going to have to do some re-tooling. Their next game is against Eastern Washington this Monday night at 7:05 pm., at EW, which is coming off a loss in the Conference opener against Northern Arizona last Friday night.