UNLV edges feisty Matadors

Steve Addy

Saturday, Nov. 25, 2000 | 10:48 a.m.

By hook or crook, UNLV escaped with a victory Saturday night.

Against a surprisingly good team like Cal State Northridge, that was just fine with the Rebels.

On a night when UNLV never really took control, the weary Rebels were happy to emerge with a 70-69 victory on a Jermaine Lewis free throw with 3.1 seconds to play at the Thomas & Mack Center.

The issue wasn't settled until Northridge's Brian Heinle missed a 3-pointer from the right side as time expired. He carried the Matadors all night and scored 32 points, two shy of his career high, but couldn't give Northridge (2-1) a follow-up victory to Tuesday's upset win at UCLA.

The Rebels (3-2) didn't play with much precision and were obviously feeling the ill-effects of this week's Maui Invitational. But they held Northridge to 35-percent shooting and got a strong game from sophomore forward Dalron Johnson to win before an announced crowd of 11,123.

After drawing criticism for poor play on Maui, Johnson led UNLV with 18 points along with 10 rebounds. Trevor Diggs added 16 points, Lewis 14 and Kaspars Kambala 10 before fouling out with 1:20 to play.

The Rebels never trailed after going ahead 21-20, but they couldn't run away from their Big Sky opponent, which returns four starters from last year's 20-win team.

"I don't think we really could have played any worse," Rebels coach Bill Bayno said. "That was five games in eight days, plus the travel. That was part of it. We were just flat. I would have much rather come back and played a low-RPI team that we knew we could beat.

"I'm not making excuses. It's just reality -- this was a tough game for all of those factors. And against a very good team. Northridge is an NCAA tournament team. I really believe that."

Though the Rebels took a brief nine-point lead in the first half, they had all they could handle from the Matadors, who upset 15th-ranked UNLV 78-74 at Pauley Pavillion.

After hanging close throughout the second half, Northridge finally tied the game 69-69 on Marco McCain's 3-pointer with eight seconds left. Without calling timeout, UNLV rushed the ball ahead to Lewis, who was fouled by McCain with 2.2 seconds left on a jumper from the left baseline.

After missing the first free throw, Lewis made the second and that was the margin of victory.

Kambala played despite a sore left knee, a minor injury suffered Wednesday against Chaminade in Hawaii. He wore a rubber brace and seemed only slightly hobbled. He made 4-of-8 shots and had 12 rebounds.

"For us to win at the end without Kas was a positive," Bayno said.

The Rebels gained a 37-30 lead at halftime after a sloppy start put them behind 18-13. They had the crowd groaning by committing nine turnovers in the first nine minutes and playing poor transition defense.

But UNLV put together a 10-4 run, fueled by Lewis' 3-pointer and Kambala's three-point play, to claim a 23-20 lead. Back-to-back triples by Dalron Johnson and Lafonte Johnson, the latter with the shot clock winding down, extended the margin to 37-28.

After a 6-of-19 start, the UNLV made 8-of-13 shots in its 24-12 spurt to close the half.

The Rebels also picked up their halfcourt defense, holding Northridge to 0-of-9 3-pointers in the half and shutting down Matadors scoring leader Jeff Parris. He got in foul trouble, was scoreless in the half and finished with seven points in 15 minutes before fouling out with 2:08 to play.