CSUN ANALYSIS: CSUN WINS IN END MATADORS TRY TO BUILD ON LATE BIG WEST RUN.

Byline: Jill Painter Staff Writer

Not all was lost in Cal State Northridge's roller-coaster season full of distractions, suspensions and inconsistent play. And it surprisingly nearly ended with an NCAA Tournament berth.

After a subpar regular season in which the Matadors lost five of their last seven games, CSUN made a dramatic run in the Big West Conference tournament that ended with a 75-73 loss to Pacific in the championship game Saturday.

There's good news for the Matadors: only one player doesn't return.

Senior reserve Michael Scott is done with his eligibility but Ian Boylan, the Big West Tournament MVP; Joseph Frazier; Eto Onyenegecha and Davin White return.

``It's definitely exciting,'' CSUN coach Bobby Braswell said.

``You hope to build on what we just did. I think we have the pieces in place to do that. We have some new faces and that gives us more depth. It definitely makes you feel good about what you can be. If we can stay healthy and all on the same page, good things will happen.''

Good things certainly happened at the conference tournament. CSUN, which finished the season at 14-16, nearly won it. The Matadors beat Cal State Fullerton, UC Santa Barbara and upset No. 21 Utah State in the semifinals before losing to Pacific on two free throws with 5 seconds left.

Onyenegecha tied the game on a 3-pointer with 38 seconds left and White was whistled for a blocking foul on Miah Davis away from the basket. White fell on the play and the block was called with 2 seconds on the shot clock and 5 on the game clock.

Braswell watched the replay Sunday but declined to comment on the call. He did offer his opinion on calls made in the waning moments of a close game.

``In general, I think players should decide the game, of course,'' Braswell said. ``I think you have to call the foul if it has an affect on the play and if it puts the other team in jeopardy. I think you have to call what's there. For the most part, good officials are consistent about that. It was a hard-fought game and you hate to see it end that way. It's not to say he didn't commit a foul but you hate to see it end that way.''

CSUN has transfer Bakarai Altheimer (Santa Clara), redshirt freshman Robert Locke and recruits Jonathan Heard and Calvin Chitwood next season to give it depth something it didn't have this season.

Onyenegecha sat out seven games because of academic issues and Davis and Frazier were suspended for 11.

This was Braswell's third consecutive losing season since the team went to the NCAA Tournament in 2001. Braswell has taken the Matadors to the tournament championship in four of his eight seasons - including three in the Big Sky. The Matadors hadn't won a Big West Tournament game in their two previous years.

``People look at wins and loses and it was a losing season, yeah,'' Braswell said. ``But you take all of those things into consideration and how do you say it's a disappointing season? I don't think we would've made it where we did without the suspensions. I can't take the end without considering everything in between.

``Look at where this program is in regards to the food chain. We're barely getting anything, yet we are finding ourselves in a position on a pretty consistent basis of challenging and having opportunity to make it in the (NCAA) Tournament.''

Jill Painter, [phone]

jill.painter(at)dailynews.com