CSUN PULLS IT OUT THIS TIME CSUN 78, N. ARIZ. 72.

Byline: Jill Painter Staff Writer

This series is so predictable.

It doesn't matter the season, coaches or players. Or if the game is in Northridge or Flagstaff, Ariz. You can even throw out Big Sky Conference implications.

When Cal State Northridge and Northern Arizona get together, the outcome is quite predictable: A thriller to the final minute.

What's been predictable lately is that the Lumberjacks have found a way to win these down-to-the wire affairs. That was the one unpredictable thing Saturday.

CSUN finally figured Northern Arizona out and won 78-72 in front of a sellout crowd of 1,850 at the Northridge gym. It was standing-room only in the tiny gym was 250 over capacity. It was the largest crowd since CSUN had 2,013 against Pepperdine in 1997.

The Matadors (16-9) won for just the fourth time in the last 12 meetings against NAU (12-11), which had won the last three. CSUN is in first place in the Big Sky at 9-3 and leads Eastern Washington (8-4) by one game. Eastern Washington helped CSUN on Friday with a shocking 73-62 loss at Portland State. NAU (6-6) fell to sixth place.

``This was a big win for us against anybody,'' CSUN coach Bobby Braswell said. ``The fact that we knew it would be a tough game because they always are tough games when we play this team. The thing I appreciated was that we had to show character and we did.''

Jeff Parris is a perfect example.

Parris, who didn't practice all week with a strained lower back, had 18 points in 18 minutes. Senior center Brian Heinle had 22 points and 11 rebounds and Markus Carr had 10 points and 10 assists.

Only 22 seconds into the second half, Parris picked up his fourth foul and went to the bench. But when Parris returned for the final six minutes, he was unstoppable.

Northern Arizona players and coaches agreed he was the difference. Parris had 12 points down the stretch and made 6 of 9 free throws.

``It's a tough matchup for us when he gets it down there,'' NAU forward Cory Schwab said. ``You've got to hand it to him because he played with a sore back. He was the turning point. The knock on him is that he can't knock down free throws but he knocked them down.''

Parris made two free throws to give CSUN a 66-64 lead with 4:47 left. Then he converted an easy layup off a feed from Heinle in the high post for a four-point lead.

``My job is to post up,'' Parris said. ``That's what I bring to the table for this team, whether I'm in pain or not.''

CSUN, which led by as many as eight and trailed by one at halftime, never lost the lead but Adam Lopez made sure it was close. Predictably so.

Lopez pulled his team within one point on a 3-point shot from the baseline at 68-67 with three minutes left. Lopez had made an unbelievable 3-point shot from 30 feet out - that he banked in - with 6:44 left to give NAU a 59-56 lead. He was 4 of 6 from behind the arc.

He's the same player who had the game-winning three-pointer to beat CSUN last month. But NAU made just 2 of 7 shots down the stretch.

The Lumberjacks went on a 6-0 run to build a 52-47 lead during a span in which CSUN missed seven consecutive outside shots.

But the Matadors got back to the basics and fed Parris and Heinle inside to keep it close the rest of the way.

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Photo: CSUN's Brian Heinle goes up against Northern Arizona's Brian McHugh for a second-half shot.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer