California State University, Northridge Men’s Basketball knocked down 17 threes, tying a school record for a game, in a 95-65 victory over Cal State Fullerton on Thursday, Jan. 2 at Titan Gym.

Four Matadors scored in double figures with Marcus Adams Jr. leading the way with 20 points to go with six made threes. Scotty Washington added 18 points while Grady Lewis chipped with 15 points and six rebounds and Tyler Beard had a season-high 11 points.

The Matadors put together one of their most impressive shooting halves in team history to open the game. CSUN would trail 12-8 nearly five minutes into the game, but Adams gave the Matadors a lift with strong shooting from the outside. Adams connected on his first four threes to start the game while CSUN received 3-point shooting from several players in the first half. Beard hit a three to put CSUN in front 16-14 then Adams followed with a three of his own on the next possession. CSUN drew a charge then picked up a three moments later from Jordan Brinson. Two more defensive stops would lead to Matador threes as CSUN built a 30-14 lead with 9:24 on the clock. The Matadors held the Titans without a point for nearly seven full minutes while CSUN concluded a 22-0 run over that span with yet another three, this time from Washington for a 33-14 lead.

Adams drained one more three at the seven-minute mark followed by two more from downtown from Washington to extend the lead further. Keonte Jones and Judson Martindale concluded the final minute of the first period with threes as CSUN made 15 total from downtown in the half en route to a sizeable 60-26 lead. In the half, CSUN shot 57 percent from the field, hitting 20-of-35 field goals.

A 13-3 run to open the second half gave the Matadors their biggest lead of the night at 75-33. Washington made CSUN’s 16th from 3-point land during the early stretch. Fullerton would try to battle back with a 12-2 run to pull to within 77-45 with 8:57 left to go. The lead though would be too much to overcome for the Titans. In the final minutes, Festus Ndumanya scored five points over the final four minutes to keep CSUN comfortably in front. The Matadors would tie the school record for threes made in a game with 39 seconds remaining when Robert Thibiant sank his first career collegiate basket from beyond the arc.

CSUN improves to 10-4 overall with a 2-1 Big West record while Cal State Fullerton drops to 5-10 overall and 0-3 in conference.
The Matadors shot 45.5 percent for the night to go with 17-of-39 shooting from three (43.6 percent) and 18-of-26 makes from the free throw line (69.2 percent). In contrast, the Titans finished with a 43.5 field goal percentage while making 7-of-19 threes (36.8 percent) and 18-of-24 free throws (75.0 percent).

CSUN out-rebounded Cal State Fullerton 35-33 on the night. The Matadors also held a 28-6 edge in points off turnovers.
The Matadors’ 17 threes on the night tied the program’s school record first set on Feb. 21, 1998 against Sacramento State.
Eight Matadors made at least one three in the contest with Adams hitting 6-of-10 and Washington making 4-of-13. Beard was 2-of-2 from downtown as well.

Thibiant’s field goal was the first of his collegiate career. A walk-on at CSUN, Thibiant was previously a team manager at the University of Arizona.

“That was the best basketball on both sides of the floor. A comprehensive effort. Defensively, a phenomenal job from switching, talking and trapping in the post. And offensively, we did an incredible job of guys sharing the ball and really being patient — turning down okay shots to get a teammate a great shot and you saw the result. That’s got to be one of the best shooting halves in school history. Certainly, one of the best since I’ve been coaching,” said Coach Andy Newhman.

For more information on CSUN sports visit https://gomatadors.com.