It was a record-setting game for the Cal State Northridge men’s basketball team as the Matadors shattered their record for most points in one game with a 159-97 win over the Redlands Bulldogs in front of 1,016 at the Matadome on Nov. 15.

The 159 points shatter the old mark of 123 points scored against Westmont on Feb. 1, 1966 and U.S. International on Jan. 21, 1991. CSUN also made 62 field goals, which breaks its old mark of 52, set against Santa Cruz Nov. 22, 1980.

Seven players scored in double-figures. In fact, everyone scored, except senior Thomas Shewmake. Junior Jonathan Heard led the team with 22 points on 9-10 shooting in only 12 minutes. Junior Calvin Chitwood shot a perfect 9-9 on his way to 19 points in 15 minutes and newcomer junior Mike McCrary also chipped in with 19 points on 6-11 from the field.

“It is always good to get our first home win,” Heard said. “One of our key points is to not lose at home and we feel confident about that.”

The first half started quickly for the Matadors, who scored two baskets in 30 seconds to take an early 4-0 lead. Redlands, who used an interesting substitution pattern all night by subbing five players at a time, tied the game at five two minutes into the game off a three by Daniel Markus.

CSUN began to pull away five minutes into the game off numerous fast break lay-ups and dunks. In fact, CSUN scored 39 fast break points in the first half alone. With the Matadors leading 10-7, CSUN got back-to-back lay-ups from sophomore Rob Haynes, which extended the lead to 14-7.

The Matadors extended their lead to double-digits off a three-point play from Heard, which gave CSUN a 24-14 lead. The Matadors’ lead would not dip below 10 points the rest of the night.

CSUN went into the half with a commanding 73-38 lead, in part due to 76 percent shooting from the floor in the first half while holding the Bulldogs to 29 percent from the field. Heard led the team with 16 first-half points on 7-8 shooting, including a huge dunk where he rode on the back of Dave Thomas. Chitwood chipped in with 15 points on perfect 7-7 shooting and Haynes contributed with 10 on 5-6 shooting.

The only negatives for the Matadors in the first half were 16 turnovers, seven missed free throws and 12 fouls, which led to eight points from the line for the Bulldogs.

“We just have to be strong with the ball,” Chitwood said. “I think we made a lot of mental mistakes and kind of got in a rush. It is something that we need to work on and I think we will fix it.”

The Matadors went on a quick 4-0 run to start the second half and extend their lead to 37, thanks to dunks by Chitwood and Heard. Then, with less than two minutes gone by in the second half, the Matadors extended their lead to 40 with another dunk, this one by sophomore Jason Hill.

It only took CSUN four more minutes to extend its lead to 50 and also score over 100 off a three-pointer from junior Jordan Noblitt, which pushed the lead to 101-50 with more than 14 minutes left in the game.

Then, with 8:29 remaining, junior Tre Peters was fouled and went to the free throw line with CSUN leading 122-74. Peters made the first free throw to tie the Matadors’ all-time record with points in a game at 123. He missed the second free throw, but on CSUN’s next trip down, senior Austin Waggenger hit a three-pointer from on top of the free throw line to break the record and give CSUN a 126-74 lead.

With the win, CSUN improved to 3-1 on the season while dropping the Bulldogs to 0-1. CSUN shot 71 percent from the field, making 62 shots on 87 attempts while holding Redlands to 35 percent from the floor. The Matador defense, however, was helped by the Bulldogs’ shot selection. Redlands shot an astounding 61 three-pointers, only making 16. CSUN, however, forced 36 turnovers and had 43 assists on 62 shots made. The Matadors also dominated on the boards, out-rebounding the Bulldogs 63-32 and coming away with 24 steals.

The only two negatives for CSUN were committing 28 turnovers and missing 19 free throws. The Matadors shot 26-45 from the free throw line.

“We are a lot further ahead then I thought we would be,” head coach Bobby Braswell said. “After the first three games, I thought we did a pretty good job of executing. Having veteran guys really helps a lot and it gives the new guys a chance to learn as they go.”

The Matadors will hit the road to take on Illinois State tonight at 7:05 CT and will follow up with a match against Tulsa on Nov. 25.