By Patrick McHugh, News Staff
When the men’s basketball team last met Drexel University Jan. 21 in Philadelphia, a vast disparity in three point shooting between the Dragons and Huskies allowed Drexel to cruise to a 71-53 victory. Northeastern managed to shoot only two of 10 beyond the arc in that game while Drexel was a scorching nine of 14.
Last night the two clubs met again at Matthews Arena and the outside shooting was much more evenly matched. The Huskies shot five of 13 from distance while the Dragons were four of 11. But even with improved numbers from long range, the Huskies could not muster enough offense and lost 61-53.
The win improves the Dragons to 18-5 overall and 10-2 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). The Huskies dropped to 11-11, 7-5 in the CAA.
“I thought we had them on the ropes a few times, but we couldn’t finish either offensive or defensive possessions at critical times,” head coach Bill Coen said.
Drexel began the game with a 10-2 run and held a lead as large as 10. Three offensive foul calls went against NU in the opening eight minutes, putting the hosts in early foul trouble.
“There was a lot of contact around the rim amongst both teams,” Coen said. “I thought both teams were up to the physical challenge. They just did a better job of stepping up there, drawing the contact and getting the call.”
Freshman guard/forward Quincy Ford kept his team in the contest, at one point scoring nine straight points for the Huskies to close the gap. A running jump shot from senior forward Kashief Edwards at the buzzer cut the Dragons’ lead to 25-24 at halftime.
The teams traded buckets at the start of the second half until the Dragons pulled away after the second media timeout of an ESPN 3 broadcast. Using a balanced inside-out approach on offense and suffocating team defense, the visitors went on a 16-5 run to grab a 47-36 lead with 6:54 to play.
“We pride ourselves on defense, and that was really our goal when we got back up in the second half, to not let them back in it” said Drexel freshman guard Damion Lee, who led all scorers with 25 points. “We wanted to keep our foot on the pedal and keep them down.”
A three pointer from junior captain Joel Smith got Northeastern within four, 57-53, with 1:13 to go, but the Huskies could get no closer. Smith scored 11 points for Northeastern, while Ford had 12 points and junior captain Jonathan Lee led NU with 15.
The Huskies will visit Virginia Commonwealth University Saturday night for a 7 p.m. tip off.
