HOME NO LONGER SO SWEET.

Byline: GERRY GITTELSON

Staff Writer

Cal State Northridge's fortunes took another tumble Saturday in a 85-76 nonconference basketball loss to lightly regarded Cleveland State in front of an unenthused crowd of 575 at the Matadome.

Playing against an opponent that had lost five in a row, Northridge (12-14) blew a five-point second-half lead and was outscored 15-8 over the final two and half minutes."

"Our energy level was really low," center Thomas Shewmake said. "We were flat all around. It was a horrible game."

There was a time this season when the Matadors prided themselves on winning at home, but they now have lost four of their past six home games and six of their past eight overall.

"That was just bad energy. I was very disappointed with our effort," coach Bobby Braswell said. "We never got it going, and that's very frustrating."

The Matadors limp into their final four games of the season in serious need of a recharge if they expect to stick around past the first round in the Big West Conference tournament,which begins March 7.

The lead changed seven times in the first half as both teams tried to find their rhythm in a relatively meaningless matchup between distant opponents that had never played each other.

Northridge, ahead 35-34 at halftime, stayed competitive on the strength of its defense, holding Cleveland State (9-19) to 34.5 percent shooting through the first 20 minutes, although the Matadors did allow five3- pointers.

Shewmake, who had averaged 24.5 points over the previous twogames, managed just two points with three turnovers in 14 first-half minutes. But he turned it on the second half and finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds and twoblocks.

The good news was that second-leading scorer Calvin Chitwood performed better after totaling fourpoints over the previous twogames. He scored 12 points in the first half but finished with just 15. No one else scored more than 10 for the Matadors.

Cleveland State's Victor Morris scored 17, and J'Nathan Bullock and Raheem Moss scored 16.

Northridge shot 41.8 percent, including 5 of 17 on 3-pointers, and the Matadors committed 18 turnovers compared to 11 for Cleveland State.

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