Michael Jones scored seven of his 20 points during a game-ending 13-0 run Monday night as Stanford stopped Cal State Northridge 88-79 in each team’s season opener in Palo Alto, Calif.
Jones’ 3-pointer with 2:20 left gave the Cardinal the lead for good at 80-79. After making a foul shot with 1:42 remaining to up the margin to two, Jones sealed the outcome by converting a three-point play with 41 seconds left for an 84-79 cushion.
Maxime Raynaud scored 23 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for Stanford, which also got 18 points and seven rebounds from Brandon Angel. Jared Bynum chipped in 13 points, seven assists and no turnovers in 30 minutes.
De’Sean Allen-Eikens scored 22 points and hauled in eight rebounds for the Matadors, who led 79-75 after Keonte Jones converted a three-point play with 2:59 left but didn’t score again. Dearon Tucker added 12 points and Jasman Sangha came off the bench to tally 11.
Cal State Northridge gashed the Cardinal’s interior defense for 58 points in the paint but went cold with the game on the line, missing its final four shots. It was also outscored 19-6 at the foul line Playing its first game for new coach Andy Newman, Cal State Northridge ripped off an early 15-4 run to take a seven-point lead on Dearon Tucker’s putback. It upped the margin to 21-13 at the 12:20 mark when Dionte Bostick made a short jumper.
Stanford pushed back, tying the score at 24 and 26, but the Matadors kept attacking and converting. They got to the paint consistently, scoring 30 points there in the first half, and maintained a narrow lead until the half’s final four minutes.
At that point, the Cardinal finally put together the spurt it looked for throughout the half. They strung together stops and rattled off 10 straight for a 43-35 advantage on Jones’ layup with 2:21 left. They settled for a 43-38 edge at the break.
–Field Level Media
