National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Cal Poly SLO 61, CSU Northridge 59
When: 10:30 PM ET, Saturday, March 15, 2014
Where: Honda Center, Anaheim, California
Officials: # Michael Irving, # Tony Padilla, # Bill Vinovich
Attendance: 3626

Cal Poly 61, Cal State Northridge 59:
Ridge Shipley hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 13.7 seconds left and scored 14 points off the bench as the Mustangs defeated the Matadors to win the Big West tournament title at Anaheim.

Chris Eversley scored 18 points and Dave Nwaba added 17 for seventh-seeded Cal Poly (13-19), which is headed to the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history. The Mustangs scored the final six points, including the straight-away 3-pointer by Shipley that made it 60-59.

Stephen Maxwell scored 18 points for third-seeded Cal State Northridge (17-18), which had a chance to take the lead before Tre Hale-Edmerson was called for an offensive foul with 4.6 seconds left. Josh Greene scored 12 points and Stephan Hicks added 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Matadors, who were unable to get a shot off before the buzzer after Cal Poly’s Kyle Odister split two free throws with four seconds left.

Northridge had a 49-45 edge after a tip-in by Hale-Edmerson with just under seven minutes left before Shipley scored six straight points to give Cal Poly a two-point lead. The Matadors rebounded to take a 59-55 lead with 1:33 left but Nwaba made two free throws with 70 seconds to go prior to Shipley’s third 3-pointer of the contest.

Northridge jumped out to an early 11-point lead before the Mustangs rallied to trail 29-25 at the break. Cal Poly scored the first six points of the second half to take its initial lead of the game and held a 40-36 advantage after a three-point play by Brian Bennett before the Matadors went on a 13-5 burst to take a four-point lead.

GAME NOTEBOOK:
The Matadors entered the contest with an NCAA-leading 79 percent accuracy rate from the free throw line and went 18-of-22, while the Mustangs went 10-of-19. … Cal Poly lost nine of its final 11 regular-season games before upsetting second-seeded UC Santa Barbara in the first round and top-seeded UC Irvine to reach the title game. … Northridge, which went 0-3 against the Mustangs this season, posted 17 offensive rebounds while holding a 42-32 advantage.
Top Game Performances
 
Cal Poly SLO   CSU Northridge
Chris Eversley 18 Scoring Stephen Maxwell 18
Jamal Johnson 4 Assists Josh Greene 2
Zach Gordon 6 Rebounds Stephan Hicks 12
David Nwaba 3 Free Throws Made Tre Hale-Edmerson 5
Chris Eversley 1 Steals Stephan Hicks 2
David Nwaba 3 Blocks Tre Hale-Edmerson 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Cal Poly SLO 61 45.1 5-20 10-19 10 29 4 4 7
CSU Northridge 59 33.3 1-7 18-22 6 36 1 3 8