CSUN FEELS ROBBED : N. ARIZONA 86, CSUN 85.

Byline: Marc J. Spears Daily News Staff Writer

After an awesome comeback and nearly 45 minutes of basketball, coach Bobby Braswell believed it was ``a shame'' that the Matadors' possible upset was ruined by a drama-killing referee in the final second.

Cal State Northridge overcame a 16-point second-half deficit to push Northern Arizona into overtime in front of 2,409 at the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome on Saturday night. But official Richard Ball called a ticky-tack foul on the Matadors' Greg Minor with only 1.4 seconds remaining in overtime, which led to a game-winning free throw by Northern Arizona's Ross Land in its 86-85 triumph in Big Sky Conference play.

``It is just amazing,'' said a perturbed Braswell. ``All I can say is absolutely amazing. I've never have been prouder of a group of kids that I have coached than these kids tonight. It is a shame . . . a shame to get to that point and the kids don't determine the game.

``I'm tired of (the referees). I don't want to say anything about the officials, but it is unfortunate for these kids to play as hard as they did and have this game end the way it did. You can quote me on that. Our kids played their hearts out and it is unfortunate that it had to end at the free-throw line.''

With 23 seconds remaining in overtime, the shot clock running down and the score tied at 85, Northridge guard Trenton Cross missed a 10-foot jumper that was rebounded by the Lumberjacks' Andrew Mavis.

With the game seemingly destined for a second overtime, the ball was passed to Land in front of the Lumberjacks' bench. After slightly pointing a hand towards Land, Ball called Minor for a foul. After making the first free throw, Land purposely missed a second one that was rebounded by CSUN's Kevin Taylor, who turned the ball over at the buzzer.

``I don't know if I was fouled,'' said Land, a Chino native. ``It could've went either way, but I guess we were fortunate.''

After the game, Braswell decided that Minor shouldn't speak to the media.

The loss dropped Northridge (7-11, 3-5 Big Sky), which played its first overtime game since a Feb. 22 victory over Sacramento State last season, to a dismal 1-9 on the road this season. Four of the Matadors' road defeats have been by three points or less.

Cross scored 18 points in his first Big Sky start, including 2 of 3 3-point attempts and 4 of 4 free throws. Forward Mike O'Quinn scored 17 points, and forward Jeff Parris and center Brian Heinle added 11 apiece. CSUN also improved dramatically from a miserable 25.9 percent shooting effort (7 of 27) in the first half to a blistering 59.4 percentage (19 of 32) in the second.

``In the locker room, we had frustration, tears and sadness. It was a hard loss to take,'' said hoarse CSUN guard Lucky Grundy, who had nine points.

Notes: The Matadors opened the game with a surprising three-guard lineup that included Cross, Carl Holmes and Grundy. O'Quinn didn't start because he missed practice earlier this week because of personal reasons. . . . Starting forward Jabari Simmons was benched for most of the second half. Braswell declined to talk about his reasons for sitting the front-court player, who has already been disciplined three times this season.