By: Patrick Mchugh, News Staff
Though he was roughly five steps beyond the three-point line and had a defender in his face, Chaisson Allen knew he had to shoot.
With the men’s basketball team clinging to a 78-70 lead over conference leader Virginia Commonwealth (VCU) last night, the senior captain pulled up for a deep trey with 2:15 on the clock, and nailed it.
“The opportunity presented itself and I just shot it, and fortunately it went in,” Allen said.
The lengthy three-pointer sent the 1,095 fans inside Matthews Arena into a frenzy as the Huskies rode the wave of momentum to a 91-80 upset win. NU has won four straight games to improve to 8-15 overall and 4-8 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).
The Rams, who entered Wednesday’s contest on a nine-game winning streak, lost for only the second time in CAA play and fell to 10-2 in the league.
“That was the game,” said VCU head coach Shaka Smart of the Allen dagger.
Northeastern Head Coach Bill Coen said although the shot was difficult he had confidence in Allen to connect.
“Players make plays,” Coen said. “He was feeling it at that point and there’s no better player we want to take that shot.”
Allen’s three-pointer put an exclamation point on a 55-point second half for NU. After trailing 43-36 at the halftime break, the Huskies’ offense exploded by shooting 63.6 percent from the floor, including hitting on seven of nine shots from three-point distance.
The visitors had difficulty keeping up with NU’s full-court pressure as the Huskies converted 15 VCU turnovers into 15 points. Northeastern also had a definite advantage in the paint, outscoring the Rams 48-28.
Smart said his team, which typically employs a full-court press and controls tempo against opponents, had no answer for Northeastern’s defense.
“They turned the tables on us, there’s no question about that,” Smart said. “We play against the press every day, but I just thought our guys were passive.”
Allen, who was named the CAA co-player of the week, tied a career-high with 26 points while sophomore guard Jon Lee added 23 and sophomore guard Joel Smith had 15. Smith has now scored 14 points or more in his last eight contests.
While the Husky defense gave VCU fits the NU offense had little trouble beating the fleet-footed Rams up the court, cashing in on 18 fast break points.
VCU senior captain Joey Rodriguez, who led his team with 18 points, said his team’s lack of defensive effort was disappointing.
“You give up 91 points to anybody you’re not going to win a lot of games,” Rodriguez said. “This whole year we’ve been doing that really well, and it pisses me off to go back and play like this.”
Northeastern improved its win streak to three games by defeating Georgia State 70-65 Saturday at Matthews Arena. Allen led all scorers with 22 points while Smith had 15, Lee had 14 and freshman forward Ryan Pierson had 10.
For the third straight game, the Huskies built an early advantage, running off 11 consecutive points to build a 24-12 lead 10:31 into the first half. The lead swelled to as much as 19 in the second half when a layup by Lee put the home team ahead 49-30 with 12:33 remaining.
NU had 12 fast break points, a statistic Coen credits to improved defensive play.
“We’ve always tried to run opportunistically,” Coen said. “I think what’s happening is we’re doing a better job defensively, and so when we do that we’re able to run. It’s really our defensive effort that’s leading to good offense, and we’d like to see more of that.”
Despite trailing by nearly 20 points, the visitors were unwilling to quit. The Panthers cut the deficit to only five points when freshman guard Javonte Maynor connected on a three-pointer with 1:06 to go. Fortunately for NU, Allen and Lee combined to go six-for-six from the free throw line in the closing minute to secure the win.
Coen admitted the lack of a go-to post player has prevented his team from closing games earlier.
“Everything comes down to half-court basketball in close basketball games, so you have got to be able to play inside-out,” he said. “We’ve been shooting the ball really, really well, but at the end of the game you have got to get the ball around the rim to get to the foul line and really control the tempo of the game, and that’s one area we could really get better at.”
The Huskies return to the hardwood Saturday when they take on the Hofstra Pride in Hempstead, N.Y. The Pride bested NU 76-67 Jan. 8 in Boston. Tip-off inside the Mack Sports Complex is scheduled for 4 p.m.
