[0] MATADORS STUMBLE AGAIN SAM DIEGO HOLDS ON OVER SLUGGISH CSUN SAN DIEGO 82, CSUN 66.

Byline: Jill Painter Staff Writer

Cal State Northridge seemed as unprepared as the game's officials.

The Matadors looked nothing like the team that had a respectable 14- point loss at BYU last week. The officials were unprepared as they had just officiated the CSUN women's game as part of a doublheader.

The men's officials never showed. The game was originally scheduled for today but it was moved to Wednesday on everyone's schedules, apparently, but the Big West's.

San Diego (8-5), patient and poised, shot the ball well and took advantage of a lackluster CSUN performance in a 82-66 victory Wednesday in front of a crowd of 1,101 at the Northridge Gym.

Markus Carr was held to a season-low eight points and an uncharacteristic four turnovers. He also had eight assists. Lionel Benjamin and Curtis Slaughter had 15 points each.

San Diego guard Andre Laws, who got the best of the matchup with Carr, had a game-high 21 points.

It was CSUN's final nonconference game. The Matadors (2-9), who are 1-1 in the Big West Conference, continue conference play on Saturday, against the University of Pacific (8-3, 1-1).

CSUN, down by 11 at halftime, pulled to within four points at 54-50 with 14:29 left on a fastbreak layup by senior Carr. The crowd got back in the game but it was quickly silenced as the Toreros went on a 12-0 run to build a 66-50 lead with 10:19 left.

Sound familiar?

San Diego coach Brad Holland said CSUN athletic director Dick Dull told him that if the Toreros lost, they could protest. It wasn't necessary.

``Coach (Bobby) Braswell apologized for the screwup,'' Holland said.``Had we not had a women's game, what do we do then? It's unfortunate.''

But Holland did say the officiating was consistent.

The Matadors can't seem to figure out how to stop these typical lapses. But it's almost two months into the season. CSUNwas without a point for 5:19 during San Diego's run.

It was a distinctly different CSUN team than the one that played consistently well in a respectable 84-70 loss at BYU on Dec. 27.

San Diego, which has wins over Irvine and San Diego State and an overtime loss to USC, had a 46-35 halftime lead, thanks to a fine shooting performance. The Toreros made 54.8 percent of their shots and the Matadors weren't bad either, shooting 50 percent.

In the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader between the CSUN womenand Pepperdine, the team's averaged a combined 29 percent.

The Matadors are more than two months into the season but still continue to have lapses that can no longer be explained by youth and inexperience.

San Diego extended its halftime lead 15 points at 50-35 just 90 seconds into the second half. The Toreros had 10 points from forward Tom Lippold, who made his first four of five shots.

Carr had just two points, five assists and three turnovers in the first half. Redshirt freshman guard Curtis Slaughter had one of his best games of the season - offensively and defensively.

Jermar Welch was effective in the early going. He scored six consecutive points to pull CSUN within one point five minutes into the game. Hescored off a dunk on a pretty no-look pass from Carr, a pair of free throws and a turnaround jumper.

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Photo:

Cal State Northridge's Gene Myvett battles with University of San Diego players during Wednesday night's game.

Edna T. Simpson/Staff Photographer