One hump down, one hump to go. The Northeastern men’s basketball team finally put all the pieces together and came up with a huge win against the Boston University Terriers Wednesday night at Matthews Arena.
The Huskies (10-7, 6-2 AE) pulled out the close 77-75 win and beat BU for the first time in almost two years. However, their reign as sole holders of second place in the conference was short lived as they fell to the University of Maine Black Bears Sunday, 67-60, in Orono.
The loss snapped the Huskies four-game winning streak and puts them back where they were this time last week: in a tie with BU for second place in the America East.
Despite coming back from a 15-point half time deficit to take the lead with under 10 minutes remaining, the Huskies couldn’t finish the Black Bears (9-8, 4-4 AE) off and fell short for their second conference loss of the season.
Junior guard Jose Juan Barea led all Husky scorers with 18 points, but shot just 7-for-24 from the floor. Marcus Barnes pitched in 14 points and Bennet Davis added 12 in the losing effort. Freshman phenomenon Shawn James blocked six shots in 16 minutes on the court.
The Huskies were beat badly on the boards, getting out-rebounded 45-28 and had just 10 assists for the game. As a team, Maine shot 43 percent from the floor and 33 percent from behind the arc, while NU shot just 35 percent from the floor and 28.6 percent from three-point land.
On Wednesday, the Huskies gave head coach Ron Everhart his first “big” win at NU with a 77-75 victory over cross-town BU (12-5, 6-2 AE).
With the score tied at 70-70 with 1:35 remaining in the game, Barnes converted a steal into two easy points and put the Huskies on top for good. The NU faithful tried to charge the court, but the event staff wouldn’t have it.
Barea had a huge game for NU, scoring 30 points and dishing out nine assists while holding Terrier point guard Chaz Carr to just nine points on 3-of-9 shooting. Although Barea led the team in scoring, Aaron Davis hit two clutch three-pointers and scored 16 points on 5-for-8 shooting.
The Huskies came out flat in the first half, falling behind 14-5 in the opening minutes and getting killed in the paint by BU’s Rashad Bell. Everhart called time out and subbed in James, who immediately added a presence in the middle for the Huskies by swatting five shots in his first action in four games.
The fans’ reaction to the lanky forward’s blocks sparked the Huskies and fueled a late charge that saw them go into the half down just one point, 38-37. James had been suspended for academic matters.
“Getting Shawn back really helped us,” Everhart said.
BU head coach Dennis Wolff refused to comment on Shawn James.
The Huskies host America East opponent University of Stony Brook Wednesday night at 7 p.m. The rest of Northeastern’s home games this season will be played at Solomon Court, while next year’s entire conference home slate is scheduled to be played at Matthews Arena.
