By: Patrick McHugh, News Staff
RICHMOND, Va. – Trailing by two points with less than six seconds remaining, Chaisson Allen looked to win the game.
The senior captain of the men’s basketball team sprinted up the floor of the Richmond Coliseum, hoping to lead Northeastern to a victory over Delaware in the first round of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Tournament on Friday night. A first team all-conference selection and top scorer for the Huskies, Allen was just the player head coach Bill Coen wanted to take the final shot.
“With the game on the line there is no other player in this conference I would want with the ball in his hands than Chaisson Allen,” Coen said.
But as Allen dribbled around a defender, he lost his footing and fell to the ground. A mad scramble ensued with Allen and teammates reaching desperately to corral the loose ball, but to no avail. The final buzzer sounded and Delaware escaped with a 60-58 victory to advance to the CAA Tournament quarterfinals. The loss ends Northeastern’s season at 11-20 overall.
“It was a tough game, it came down to the wire,” said Allen, who finished with 13 points. “I wasn’t able to make the play at the end of the game, that’s what kind of sticks out in my head right now.”
The evening looked promising early on as NU scorched the nets to take a 20-12 lead with 9:59 remaining in the first half. The Huskies built a lead of as many as 11 before UD went on a 7-0 run to end the first half trailing 29-27.
Sophomore guard Jon Lee led the way for Northeastern in the second half, scoring nine of his team-high 16 points in the final frame while also dishing out four assists. A three-pointer from sophomore guard Joel Smith, who finished with 10 points, gave the Huskies a 54-51 lead with 3:52 to play.
The Fightin’ Blue Hens responded with two clutch threes to regain control down the stretch. Senior guard Brian Johnson drained a three-pointer as the shot clock expired to knot the score at 54 with 3:11 to go. CAA Rookie of the Year Devon Saddler connected on a triple of his own 26 seconds later to give UD a 57-54 advantage.
Both squads traded points in the closing minutes with Delaware taking a 60-58 lead with 13 seconds remaining. Allen attempted a three-pointer that would have given NU the lead, but his shot failed to reach the basket.
UD senior captain Jawan Carter, who finished with a game-high 17 points, went to the free throw line for two shots that would have sealed the victory, but was unsuccessful on both tries. Allen grabbed the rebound of the second shot and had a chance to win the game, but slipped just past mid-court and never got a shot off.
“As it goes, come tournament time you need an extra bounce, an extra shot to go in, an extra stop, and we were just unable to do that,” Coen said.
The close loss is a microcosm of the team’s season: The Huskies lost 20 games for the first time since the 2001-02 campaign, but 11 of those contests were by six points or fewer.
The defeat ends the college careers of Allen, Vinny Lima and Ben Felix. Lima, who missed 16 games this season due to a stress fracture in his right foot, averaged 3.4 points-per-game and was recognized as Northeastern’s senior nominee for the Dean Ehlers Leadership Award. Felix, a junior who is graduating this spring, scored 10 points in nine games this season and was recognized as a CAA All-Academic honorable mention.
Allen’s career statistics rank high in the program’s record book. His 1,550 points are ninth-best all-time for NU, and his 232 steals are second in Northeastern history and fifth in CAA history. After leading the team in scoring (16.7 points-per-game), assists (3.7 per-game) and steals (2.1 per-game) he was named to the All-CAA first team for the second consecutive season and All-CAA defensive team for the third straight season.
“Chase has been a terrific player for us and a terrific leader and terrific captain,” Coen said. “He is one of the all-time greats at Northeastern.”
