NORTHRIDGE — Freshman Jadon Jones scored 17 of his 25 points in the second half as the Long Beach State men’s basketball team extended its winning streak to 11 games with a 72-59 victory over Cal State Northridge on Thursday night at the Matadome.

Jones made 9 of 13 shots with four 3-pointers for Long Beach (15-9 overall, 10-1 Big West Conference). Joel Murray had 18 points, going 4 for 13 from the field but 10 for 10 at the free-throw line.

Fidelis Okereke had career-highs of 14 points and 14 rebounds off the bench for CSUN (7-17, 3-8). Elijah Hardy had 13 points but six of the Matadors’ 21 turnovers. Atin Wright added 12 points.

Long Beach State beat the Matadors 71-55 earlier this season.

The game was tight early, as LBSU adjusted to being without big men Joe Hampton and Jordan Roberts. Sophomore Romelle Mansel got the start and led a balanced rebounding effort (six) to help steady Long Beach.

CSUN led by four with just over eight minutes left in the first half, but LBSU closed the half on a 17-2 run to take control of the game. Tobias Rotegaard (eight points), Colin Slater (nine points) and Jones all hit 3-pointers during the run.

Jones kept heating up after the intermission, hitting 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to push Long Beach’s lead to 18 points with less than 10 minutes left and Eddie Scott extended the margin to 20 points at 63-43 with 9:13 remaining.

CSUN whittled the deficit to 12 points with 5:57 left, but got no closer as Long Beach won at the Matadome for the first time since 2018.

Both teams shot below 40%, but Long Beach shared the ball well, with 16 assists on its 23 field goals. CSUN was just 3 for 15 from behind the arc and 12 for 17 from the free-throw line.

LBSU continued to excel from the free-throw line (18 for 19) but did have 19 turnovers.

UP NEXT

Long Beach plays at UC Santa Barbara on Saturday at 7 p.m., when it will try to match the program’s longest winning streak since the 2011-12 season.

Related Articles