Dec. 5, 2007

Box Score

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - In a back-and-forth game of runs Cal State Northridge built an initial lead and was able to hold off Utah Valley, 76-64.

Ryan Toolson led all scorers with 18 while Josh Olsen scored 14. Jordan Brady led the Wolverines with 11 rebounds on the game.

"I thought we fought hard and never gave up," UV head coach Dick Hunsaker said. "We have to continue to get better. Northridge is a great team. They are very athletic and have a lot of guys that can score."

With UV behind 7-6, CSUN scored five in a row to jump to a 12-6 lead. The Wolverines and Matadors traded baskets throughout the half as Olsen hit a three-pointer with 12 minutes remaining in the half to pull within four points at 18-14.

Olsen was on fire in the early going for the Wolverines, hitting another three with 7:30 left to pull UV within three at 25-22. Just over a minute later, Jonathan Heard hit a three-pointer to give the Matadors a 32-22 advantage. The Wolverines out-scored CSUN 13-11 to finish the half down eight, 43-35. Olsen led all first-half scorers with 12.

In the second half, UV came out and cut the lead to five on a Toolson jumper with 18:50 remaining. CSUN responded, out-scoring the Wolverines 4-1 to hold an eight-point advantage at the first media timeout of the second half.

The two teams traded runs with the Wolverines going on a 7-2 run to cut the Matadors lead to 50-47 on a Toolson jumper. CSUN responded with a 12-1 run to build a game-high 14 point lead at 62-48 with 9:21 remaining.

The Wolverines responded with another run, scoring 10 straight and capped by a Toolson three to cut the CSUN lead to just four at 62-58. Deon Tresvant hit a big three-pointer of his own to end the UV run and put Northridge up seven. The Matadors answered each UV run down the stretch to hold on to the victory.

Utah Valley's road trip will continue as the Wolverines will head northwest 70 miles to take on UC Santa Barbara Friday evening at 8 p.m. (MT)