Smith, Dawson lead CS Northridge over UC Santa Barbara

Feb 12, 2018, 12:57 am

LOS ANGELES -- Kendall Smith had 17 points and six assists and Tavrion Dawson had 15 points and 13 rebounds to help Cal State Northridge beat UC Santa Barbara 77-55 on Saturday night.

Darin Johnson had 16 points and Aaron Parks added 12 for the Matadors (11-13, 7-4 Big West), who led the rest of the way from Smith's jumper at 14-13 with 11:28 left in the first half.

The Gauchos (3-20, 1-10) cut a nine-point, first-half deficit down to one on the opening basket of the second half and stayed close for the first eight minutes of the period.

But CS Northridge pushed the lead to double digits with 6 1/2 minutes to go and had a 19-5 run to lead 77-53 in the final minute.

Eric Childress had 16 points, Max Heidegger scored 14 and Alex Hart had eight points and 11 rebounds for UC Santa Barbara.