By Patrick McHugh, News Staff and Justin Clear-Vekinis, News Correspondent
Junior captains Jonathan Lee and Joel Smith rescued Northeastern from a poor start to deliver a 64-62 victory at Hofstra last night.
Despite falling behind 9-0 in the opening five minutes, Smith’s 13 first half points helped the Huskies (7-8 overall, 3-2 Colonial Athletic Association) enter halftime tied at 24.
Lee, a guard who entered Wednesday’s game leading Northeastern in scoring, had a disappointing three points at halftime, but exploded in the second half to lead all scorers with 21 in the win.
“He made some very, very big plays,” head coach Bill Coen said of Lee. “He made big shots exactly when we needed them. I was proud of his effort tonight.”
The Huskies and the Pride traded points in the final two minutes of the contest, until Lee delivered with a clutch jump shot to give his team a two point lead with 9.7 seconds remaining.
A turnover by Hofstra gave Northeastern the ball with less than five second remaining.
Though Lee could not convert on his one-and-one free throw, Hofsta’s last season heave fell short.
The Huskies have now won back-to-back games after a victory at James Madison University Jan. 7 and three of their four games of 2012.
The Huskies put up 68 points and held the Dukes to their lowest scoring game of the season, 56 points.
Junior guard and co-captain Jonathan Lee put up 20 points to lead the Huskies in scoring. He has scored double-digits in 24 of the his last 27 games. Freshman forward Quincy Ford also led the team with a career-high 20 points on the day, reaching double-digits in six of the past nine games.
“We’re just seeing the beginning of what he could eventually become,” Coen said. “We’ve addressed ball handling. We’re taking better care of the ball and improving our execution.”
The Huskies outshot the Dukes 50 percent to 40 percent, but were out-rebounded 31-26.
“We’ve been working rebounding [over winter break],” Lee said. “When we win the turnover and rebounding war, we’re good in the game.”
The Huskies turned over the ball 11 times against the Dukes, with only two turnovers in the second half.
The Northeastern team focused on playing well together over this break.
“[We’re] bringing attention and care to practice,” Smith said. “[And] teamwork. We play our best ball when we play as a team.”
The Huskies are back in action at home on Saturday, where they take on CAA opponent William and Mary (2-3 CAA, 4-13 overall).
“At this point in the season, the team is in a bit of a rhythm,” Coen said Tuesday. “We make game adjustments based on our opponent and other than that our normal routine of staying healthy and improving our timing.”
