SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — In a tale of two halves, the Matadors cut a 26-point Gaucho lead down to 69-67 after forward Willie Galick made two free throws with 25 seconds left in regulation. Gaucho free throws down the stretch, however, helped ice the game and gave UC Santa Barbara a 74-69 victory over CSUN (10-18, 5-8 Big West) at the Thunderdome on Wednesday night. After James Nunnally turned the ball over with 1:42 left in the game, Matador Vincent… Read more

When a reporter asked CSUN forward Michael Lizarraga how it felt to be the only hearing impaired player ever to compete in an NCAA Tournament, Lizarraga immediately responded, “Did you say ‘hearing impaired’?” According to the dictionary, the word “impaired” means to “be weakened, diminished or damaged.” But Lizarraga, who has conquered many obstacles in his life, doesn’t associate himself with any of those words. The reporter, then realizing that Lizarraga didn’t deem the term applicable to him, replied, “Sorry,… Read more

The one positive thing that Matador head coach Bobby Braswell took from their loss to Drake Saturday night was that it prepared them for their match against UC Santa Barbara tonight at the Thunderdome. In a postgame interview, after their 90-80 loss to the Bulldogs, Braswell felt that Drake’s offense was similar to the Gauchos because they run a lot of screens for their shooters. Braswell also felt that Drake would have a lot of success if they were in… Read more

In an ESPN BracketBuster game, Cal State Northridge took more than just a break from its Big West schedule to host Drake University  Saturday night. Apparently, to head coach Bobby Braswell, the Matadors also took a break on defense against the Bulldogs. “I’m glad we could accommodate Drake and let them come down and have a scrimmage against us tonight,” Braswell said sarcastically after his team lost 90-80 to the Bulldogs. “That’s what it felt like defensively, we were awful…. Read more

The Matadors have made it a habit to play in nail-biting games and failing at the end but fortunately for them they were able to pull out the 73-68 victory over Cal Poly Wednesday night at the Matadome. “It’s good to be on the other end of it,” CSUN head coach Bobby Braswell said. “We have been on the bad end on few of these close losses. It’s good to see the guys respond and step up to win this… Read more

The Matadors (9-16, 4-7 Big West) had their hearts broken twice last week losing on a buzzer beater to Cal State Bakersfield (Feb. 10) and falling by one-point in triple overtime to Cal State Fullerton (Feb. 13). Point guard Vinnie McGhee felt that losing to the Titans was a tougher game to get over. “Fullerton was three overtimes and we played so bad to lose at the last second,” McGhee said. “All we needed to do was box out and… Read more

In one of the wildest games at the Matadome, Cal State Northridge’s inability to box out and get crucial defensive stops cost them a 113-112 triple overtime loss against Cal State Fullerton (13-11, 7-5 Big West), Saturday night in Big West play. With four seconds remaining in the third overtime and CSUN (9-16, 4-7 Big West) up 112-109, Titan Gerard Anderson made his first free throw and intentionally missed the second one. Junior guard Eric Williams, who only entered the… Read more

Kenny Daniels game-high 24 points weren’t enough to get past Cal State Bakersfield Wednesday night, as Trent Blakely’s buzzer beater shot fell in to give the Roadrunners the 59-57 victory at Rabobank Arena. The Matadors (9-15, 4-6 Big West) were down 57-55 with 50 seconds remaining in the game before Lenny Daniel made a jumper to tie the game. On the next play Roadrunner Marcus Hall missed a three-pointer but Blakely grabbed the offensive rebound. After a Bakersfield (6-17) timeout… Read more