By: Patrick McHugh, News Staff
Bill Coen had a feeling this moment would come.
The men’s basketball head coach has observed patiently from the sidelines as his young team struggled to compete in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). While the squad dropped nine consecutive contests and entered the week winless in league play, Coen stressed mental toughness.
“There’s guys in this locker room that have experienced a lot of winning over the last two seasons, and it’s been difficult fighting the fight,” he said. “But good things happen when you keep working hard, and the harder you work, the luckier you get, and eventually if you fight through it’s a great feeling.”
Coen’s Huskies broke through this week, defeating UNC-Wilmington and William & Mary to pick up their first two wins in the CAA and end the lengthy drought. The Huskies are now 6-15 overall and 2-8 in league play.
Last night the Huskies dropped UNCW 70-66 in Wilmington thanks to some hot shooting from 3-point distance. Northeastern shot 45 percent (9-of-20) from long range, with sophomore guard Joel Smith connecting on four 3-pointers and senior captain and guard Chaisson Allen hitting three. Allen led the visitors with 20 points while Smith had 14. Sophomore guard Jon Lee added 17.
NU used a 14-3 run late in the opening frame to break away from the Seahawks and establish a nine-point lead at halftime. Freshman forward Ryan Pierson scored five straight points coming out of the break to push the lead to a game-high 14 points.
Seahawks’ senior guard Chad Tomko, who led all scorers with 23 points, kept his team in the game by leading UNCW on a 13-2 run that tied the score at 64-64 with 1:56 remaining. Lee was fouled three times in the final minutes and connected on all six free throw attempts to give NU the lead for good.
The Huskies earned their first win in conference play two nights earlier, with a 70-67 victory over visiting William & Mary at Matthews Arena. Four Huskies finished in double-figures, led by Smith with a career-high 21 points.
The sharpshooting Smith looked comfortable from 3-point distance, drilling four of his first six shots from beyond the line to help NU grab a 17-point lead early in the first half.
“I think the whole season my team has been looking for me and some games I just haven’t been able to knock down shots,” said Smith, who has now scored at least 14 points in his last six contests. “Luckily the last couple games I’ve been able to knock them down. They find me, and they trust me to keep shooting.”
Though Smith’s hot shooting eventually cooled, others helped carry the scoring load. Allen scored 10 of his 19 points in the second stanza as the Huskies pushed their lead to as many as 18 points with 12:43 remaining. The Tribe closed the game on a 13-5 run to close the game but ultimately fell short.
“If that’s a team in our league that hasn’t won a game, we got a pretty good league,” said William & Mary head coach Tony Shaver.
While Smith set the pace, Coen said he was pleased to have three other players – Allen, Lee and sophomore forward Kauri Black – also reach double-digits.
“We need everybody to share the load,” Coen said. “Sometimes it has been one guy or another guy or two guys. At this level in CAA basketball you need more than that to earn a victory.”
The two victories followed a 72-58 setback at Drexel on Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia. While the visitors again shot well from 3-point range by connecting on 8-of-19 attempts, a slow start ultimately made the difference. The team went 8:43 before scoring a field goal and trailed 17-3 less than 10 minutes into the game.
Coen said Drexel’s slower style of play made a comeback nearly impossible.
“When you’re down 17-3 against a fast-paced team you might be able to get a run and get back into it, but we knew we were in for an uphill battle from that point on,” he said.
Trailing by as many as 21 points, the Huskies could get no closer than 12 points in the second half en route to the defeat. Smith led all scorers with 19 points while Chris Fouch and Samme Givens led the Dragons with 17 points apiece.
Northeastern will look to make it three in a row Saturday when they host Georgia State at Matthews Arena. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.
