[0] IT'S ALL OVER FOR CSUN : MONTANA ST. 91 CSUN 90.

Byline: Chris Branam Daily News Staff Writer

One second half so unlike the first. One unfortunate result for the Cal State Northridge men's basketball team.

CSUN, looking every bit like a possible favorite to win the Big Sky tournament early on, was derailed Thursday night by an unbelievable shooting display by Montana State in the second half and the Bobcats nipped the Matadors 91-90 on Jeff Riggs' fallaway jumper from eight feet with 1.4 seconds left.

``To say this is a disappointing end to our season is an understatement,'' CSUN head coach Bobby Braswell said.

The Matadors (17-12) failed to advanced to the second round of the tournament for the first time in three seasons when Andre Larry's 3-point attempt from 30 feet was off the mark as time expired.

CSUN was outscored by Montana State 58-43 in the second half as the Bobcats shot 74 percent (20 of 27). The Matadors led 47-33 at halftime.

It wasn't that CSUN played badly. The Matadors shot 51 percent, committed just 12 turnovers, had six different players get assists and had three players score 20 or more points. But the tournament-tested Bobcats, with seniors Nate Holmstadt and Danny Sprinkle, who both scored 23, were a little too much.

``What you saw was a little bit of our youth and inexperience,'' Braswell said.

Even though CSUN didn't have the depth it had in the regular season - starting forward Jeff Parris didn't play because of back spasms; reserve forward Rico Harris is suspended and didn't make the trip - the Matadors didn't wilt down the stretch.

Montana State took its first lead of the game, 86-84 with 2:10 left on Rufus Nicholson's reverse layup. The Bobcats also took an 89-88 lead on Danny Sprinkle's 3-pointer with 34 seconds remaining.

But Markus Carr gave the Matadors a 91-90 lead with 10.8 seconds left on a left-handed layup. MSU didn't call a timeout, and Riggs drove on Carr, backed up and made the shot.

The Bobcats owned the final 20 minutes, but they looked like they would be run out of the arena by the Matadors in the first 15 minutes. That's how long it took CSUN to build a 21-point lead (39-18).

Fifth-seeded Montana State advanced to play top-seeded Weber State in the semifinals.

Portland State 80, Eastern Washington 74: Former Thousand Oaks standout Jason Hartman scored 23 points and made a key 3-pointer late for the third-seeded Pilots, who advanced to face Northern Arizona in the semifinals.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: Cal State Northridge's Derrick Higgins, right, battles Montana State's John Lazosky during Thursday night's Big Sky Conference tournament game.

August Miller/Associated Press