By Max Nagel, News Correspondent
The men’s basketball team needed a win at William & Mary Saturday night to swing momentum back into their direction, but as they concluded their three game road trip. A one-sided blowout by the Tribe handed the Huskies their fourth straight loss and a road sweep, losing the contest by 25 points, 79-54.
Prior to the game, William & Mary was on a nine game losing streak, coming off of a loss to Old Dominion. The Tribe remains ranked No. 10 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) standings at 3-12 (5-22 overall).
“I thought we got thoroughly outplayed in every aspect of the game. It was very disappointing,” head coach Bill Coen said after the game. “In no way did I anticipate us turning in this type of effort tonight. I didn’t think we played well of the defensive end. We didn’t execute our offensive plan for the first time all year. It was clear that William & Mary wanted it more and they played the game beautifully.”
The game started with with William & Mary winning the tip-off and instantly putting up points. The first seven minutes of the game were evenly matched as W&M led by two, 8-6. As the first half progressed, it was consistent on offense and defence by the Tribe that allowed them to stagnate the Huskies’ scorers and scramble the defense to rack up significant points.
The Tribe put up fifteen unanswered points in the last five minutes and allowed head coach Tony Shaver’s team to go into the locker room with a comfortable 19 point lead – their biggest halftime lead all season – 41-22.
Stepping back onto the court for the second half, Coen said he felt the Huskies has a new frame of mind that could have helped them bring the score back into a reasonable margin.
“We played a little better, turning the ball over, making some lay-ups and grabbing a few baskets,” Coen said.
But a handful missed opportunities and aggressive play from the Tribe that kept the Huskies from retaliating. William & Mary continued outplaying NU, bringing the point deficit to as high as 32, 79-47 with 3:00 left in regulation.
Northeastern played a strong full court press, in hopes to slow down the surging Tribe, but it was versatility in scoring, by putting up 40 points in the paint and and double digits from multiple shooters. W&M’s sophomore guard Britt Brandon’s long and short jumpers made him the lead scorer with 24 points. Sophomore forward Tim Rusthoven and freshman guard Marcus Thorton each contributed 14.
Northeastern scorers were only 3-for-13 beyond the arc compared to the Tribe sinking exactly half of their 3-pointer attempts, 5-for-10.
Huskies freshman forward/guard Quincy Ford had a career high 21 points. Freshman forward Reggie Spencer was the second leading scoring with 10 points.
The ‘Iron Man,’junior guard Jonathan Lee for the Huskies, who has been a leadering scorer in 14 games this season, was held to only five rebounds and no points.
“John Lee has been such a great player all year long, but tonight he didn’t contribute and lead us to the point that we needed,” said Coen following the game.
The Huskies are still without a win at William & Mary’s Kaplan Arena, dropping all six games played there since divisional play between the two teams began. W&M leads the overall series 6-5.
Northeastern will host Towson Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in Matthews Arena. Their last contest ended in a Husky win, 57-48. Towson sits in last place in the CAA standings, only winning on one game all season (1-14 CAA, 1-26 overall).
