By Patrick McHugh, News Staff
The men’s basketball team ran its win streak to four games with a 60-57 win over visiting Georgia State last night at Matthews Arena.
Northeastern’s back-court tandem of co-captains Jonathan Lee and Joel Smith led the hosts to victory. The junior guards scored 19 points and 13 points respectively, while freshman forward Quincy Ford added 14. Senior forward Eric Buckner led the visiting Panthers with 17 points in a losing effort.
The Huskies improved to 9-8 overall and 5-2 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) with the win. Northeastern has now won six of its last seven games to pull into a tie for second place in the conference.
Georgia State is now 12-5 overall,and 5-2 in the CAA.
Three-point shooting played a major factor in the outcome, with Northeastern drilling 11 of 21 shots from downtown. The trio of Lee, Smith and Ford collected 33 of their combined 46 points from long range. Conversely, the Panthers hit only three of 10 outside shots.
“We had all we could handle tonight and fortunately we shot the ball well,” Northeastern head coach Bill Coen said after the game. “The game always looks easier when you make shots. I thought that was the key tonight, we were able to get enough quality looks on the offensive end. We were able to knock them down and beat a very feisty Georgia State team.”
Northeastern attacked Georgia State’s 2-3 zone defense by dialing up shots from the perimeter. The Huskies first five made field goals, which were all three-pointers, and the team rode the hot shooting momentum to a 35-31 halftime lead. The game plan remained the same after the break and more converted threes gave the Huskies a 48-38 advantage at 12:10 to play for the largest lead of the game. The Panthers used a 10-2 run to cut the deficit to two, but the Huskies capitalized on free throws down the stretch to clinch the victory.
The Huskies look to continue their recent success when they face the Drexel Dragons at 4 p.m. Saturday in Philadelphia.
