Warriors drop season finale at CSUN, 80-76; UH will be No. 4 seed at conference tournament
Lamine Diane had 34 points, 15 rebounds and six
blocked shots to lead CSUN to an 86-82 victory over Hawai’i on Saturday in the regular-season
finale for both teams at The Matadome in Northridge, Calif.
The Rainbow Warriors finished the regular season at 17-13 overall and 8-8 in
the Big West Conference. They are tied for fourth place and will be the No. 4
seed for next week’s Big West Conference Championship Tournament at Anaheim,
Calif. They will face No. 5 UC Davis in a quarterfinal game.
CSUN improved to 15-17 overall and finished in a tie for second place in the
Big West at 10-6. The Matadors will be the No. 2 seed for the conference
tournament.
Overshadowed in the loss were career-best scoring nights for two Warriors.
Senior guard Eddie Stansberry finished with 31 points, including 7-for-14
shooting from 3-point range. Junior forward Samuta Avea added 20 points and
nine rebounds.
Justin Hemsley added 13 points, and Zigmars Raimo scored 12 for Hawai’i.
It was a close game throughout, with the teams exchanging the lead 12 times.
The first half went back and forth and fittingly ended in a 47-47 tie at
intermission. The Warriors went on an 11-2 run midway through the half to take
a 29-20 lead. Hawai’i increased its lead to 36-26 with 6:30 remaining on a
3-pointer by Stansberry.
The Matadors got back in it with a 9-0 run to end the first half.
In the first half alone, Stansberry scored 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting, Avea
scored 14 on 6-of-8 shooting, and Hemsley added 11 points on 4-for-4 shooting.
The Warriors shot 62.1 percent (18 for 29) from the field in the first 20
minutes, including 50 percent (7 for 14) from 3-point range.
It stayed close throughout the second half. The score was tied six different
times in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
The Warriors took a 73-68 lead with 9:30 remaining, but CSUN responded with a 12-3
surge to take an 80-76 with 3:56 remaining. The Matadors stayed in front the
rest of the way
Terrell Gomez added 24 points for CSUN, which lost at Hawai’i, 80-75, earlier
this season.
Warriors played their butts off tonight, Diane just too much , couldn’t be stopped. Stansberry coming out of his slump , Anita coming out of slump, Hemsley playing better , just need Buggs to will his body to score double digits rest of way. This team is destined to to go all the way. They just have to have the DETERMINATION to will the body and mind to do it. Play like WARRIORS. !!