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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

With Assist From Ellison, Cougs Flatten Matadors

Steve Bergum Staff Writer

Any concerns Kevin Eastman might have had about his Washington State men’s basketball team looking past California State-Northridge were eased early Wednesday night.

Even with Saturday’s important Pacific-10 Conference matchup against arch-rival Washington looming, the Cougars managed to maintain their intensity and sense of purpose for the better part of 40 minutes and dusted the American West Conference Matadors 106-59.

Donminic Ellison handed out a school-record 15 assists and was among five WSU players to score in double figures as the Cougars raised their overall record to 9-5 in front of a Friel Court crowd of 3,768.

The win was WSU’s 11th in a row at Friel and raised its non-conference home winning streak to 24, dating to a 56-52 loss to Idaho in 1989-90.

Tavares Mack, making his first start since Dec. 28, led WSU with a career-high 21 points and seven rebounds in only 21 minutes. Isaac Fontaine added 18 points, followed by reserve David Vik with 15 and Mark Hendrickson with 14.

Reserve Peter Micelli led CalNorthridge with 20 points and four assists as the Matadors fell to 4-12.

Ellison scored 12 points on his way to breaking WSU’s single-game assist record of 14 set in 1975 by Marty Giovacchini against California. And he turned the ball over only twice.

“Obviously, it was a special night for him,” Eastman said of his sophomore point guard. “To have 15 assists in a college game at any level is a special thing. And to have a (assiststo-turnover) ratio of 15-2 is tremendous.”

“It’s always special breaking records,” said Ellison, whose previous high for assists was nine. “It’s been something I’ve wanted here at WSU for a long time.”

Hendrickson, who played only 4 minutes in the second half after suffering a cut on his wrist, said Ellison’s record came as the result of “totally unselfish play.

“Tonight he finally proved you can get assists from the sports information people at Washington State.”

Ellison was rewarded for his unselfishness with 34 minutes of playing time - 32 of which came after the outcome was no longer in doubt.

The Cougars ran early and often, pressed just enough to keep Northridge from catching a breath and went to the boards with gusto.

They jumped to a 7-2 lead, put together a pair of 12-point runs to build a 50-22 halftime lead and added methodically to their advantage throughout the second half.

“A real sustained effort,” said Eastman, who admitted earlier in the week that he had no idea how his team might respond to the Matadors’ challenge with the Huskies waiting to invade Friel Court for Saturday’s 3 p.m. game. “And our defense created a lot of our offense tonight.”

The Cougars forced 27 Northridge turnovers, many of which led to easy transition baskets and made for a long evening for Matadors coach Pete Cassidy.

“If you throw the ball away, you throw the game away. It’s that simple,” Cassidy said. “That’s all we did from the very get-go. We threw the ball all over the gym.”The momentum for Washington State never stopped and we just continued to give away a multitude of easy transitional baskets.”

Two Cougars who did not get a chance to fatten their averages at the expense of the outgunned Matadors were freshmen Carlos Daniel and Chris Griffin, who were held out after being cited for being minors in possession of alcohol last Saturday.

Eastman said it was not predetermined whether the two would play.

He would not say whether Daniel and Griffin will play against UW.

WSU 106, CS Northridge 59 CS NORTHRIDGE (4-12)

Dorsey 2-8 1-2 5, Gray 1-9 0-0 3, O’Doherty 3-8 2-2 8, Stone 2-7 0-0 4, Hill 1-5 0-0 3, Grundy 1-3 0-0 2, Martin 3-8 0-0 8, Micelli 5-13 10-10 20, Cross 3-7 0-0 6, Samson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-68 13-14 59.

WASHINGTON ST. (9-5)

Hendrickson 6-9 1-1 14, Mack 8-12 5-7 21, Fontaine 6-8 6-6 18, Antrum 3-5 0-0 8, Ellison 5-8 2-2 12, Warmenhoven 3-6 3-7 9, Topper 1-2 0-1 3, Bortles 0-2 0-0 0, Corkrum 3-5 0-0 6, Vik 7-13 1-2 15. Totals 42-70 18-26 106.

Halftime-Washington St. 50, CS Northridge 22. 3-Point goals- CS Northridge 4-17 (Gray 1-5, Stone 0-1, Hill 1-3, Grundy 0-1, Martin 2-6, Cross 0-1), Washington St. 4-14 (Hendrickson 1-2, Fontaine 0-2, Antrum 2-3, Ellison 0-1, Topper 1-2, Bortles 0-1, Vik 0-3). Fouled out-Dorsey. Rebounds-CS Northridge 38 (Dorsey, Stone 7), Washington St. 41 (Mack, Corkrum 7). Assists-CS Northridge 11 (Micelli 4), Washington St. 30 (Ellison 15). Total fouls-CS Northridge 24, Washington St. 13. A-3,768.