Thursday night was a battle between two of the top forwards in the Big West Conference. Cal State Northridge’s Stephen Maxwell and UC Santa Barbara’s Alan Williams took to the floor on Thursday, looking to lead their respective team to a conference victory.

While neither of the players would have an overly large impact on the outcome of the game, Stephen Maxwell and the Matadors would come out on top, scoring their first conference win of the season.

Cal State Northridge used a big second half to pull away from the Gauchos, and come away with the 74 – 63 road victory.

Cal State Northridge would start the game strong, racing out to an 8 – 3 lead before the first media timeout. Four different players scored two points apiece for the Matadors, including Maxwell with a jumper.

They would stretch the lead to 14 – 5, thanks to two made costless throws from Maxwell, but the Gauchos would continue to chip away. An Eric Childress lay-up at 12:23 would bring UC Santa Barbara back to within 4 points.

At this point in the game, Williams had been a non-factor for the Gauchos on the offensive end, failing to make a bucket. This would continue to be a trend as the game would progress.

The teams would keep trading baskets, and a Tre Hale-Edmerson jumper would stretch the lead back to 3 for the Matadors. That was short lived, as a Hunter Ford three-pointer tied the game back up at 17 – 17 for the first time since the game started.

The first half would progress on, and the Matadors would open up another large lead, this time at 7 points. The Gauchos would continue to chip away, and the game got its first bucket from Alan Williams. Williams made a two-point jumper at the 2:16 mark for his first two points of the game.

Those two points would be the only two Williams would score in the first half, as the Matadors took a slim 35 – 32 lead into the break.

In the battle of the forwards, give Maxwell the slight edge in the first half. Maxwell recorded 4 points and 3 rebounds, while Williams, the double-double machine, was held to just 2 points and 3 rebounds in the first 20 minutes of play.

Zalmico Harmon opened the second half with a three-pointer on the first possession to bring the Gauchos back to all-square, at 35 – all.

Over the next nine minutes of action, the teams would trade baskets, and consequently trade leads back and forth. Neither team was able to gain any separation from the other, as each team always had an answer when the other tried to make a move forwards.

Stephan Hicks made a three-pointer for the Matadors at the 9:43 mark, giving Cal State Northridge a 50 – 46 lead. Ajon Efferson and Devonte Elliott would make baskets of their own, and the lead was quickly stretched to 9.

The Gauchos would keep chipping away as the game progressed, but couldn’t retake the lead. Alan Williams made a three-point play at the 3:33 mark to bring the Gauchos back to within 5 points, at 66 – 61, but that’s as close as they would get.

Strong costless throw shooting down the stretch allowed the Matadors to stretch the lead a little further and cruise to the victory.

The Cal State Northridge Matadors went on the road and came away with their first conference win of the season, a 74 – 63 decision over the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos.

For the Matadors, Maxwell didn’t have a big impact on the game, but still played relatively well. He finished the game with 10 points and 6 rebounds. Devonte Elliott was the star of the game for both teams, recording a double-double of 23 points and 12 rebounds in the win.

Stephan Hicks added in 17 points of his own to help the Matadors to their first win in Big West play.

As a team, the Matadors had a great night of shooting. Cal State Northridge finished the game 23-of-41 (56.1%) from the floor, 7-of-10 (70%) from long distance, and 21-of-22 (95.5%) from the costless throw line. With shooting numbers like those, they deserved to win.

Thursday night marked only the sixth time that Alan Williams hasn’t recorded a double-double this season, and only the fifth time that he hasn’t reached double-digits in rebounds in a game. Williams was held to just 5 points and 7 rebounds in the loss.

Gabe Vincent led the way for the Gaucho, scoring a team-high 15 points, while Zalmico Harmon added in 11 points and 6 assists in the loss.

The Cal State Northridge Matadors (5 – 13, 1 – 2) now have the monkey off their backs, and now have a win in conference play. The Matadors will look to keep things rolling in their next contest when they welcome Cal Poly to the Matadome on Saturday.

The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (8 – 8, 1 – 1) saw their three-game winning streak come to an end on Thursday, and will be looking for a bounce-back performance as they go on the road to take on Long Beach State on Saturday.

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About the author
Tyler Bennett
I am a Canadian who writes about U.S. college sports...ironic, right? With an undergrad degree in Sport Management, I thought it was only fitting that I write about sports. As a Canadian, I spell words funny, use eh excessively, and apologize profusely, so I am sorry in advance.