By Max Nagel, News Correspondent
The men’s basketball team snapped a four-game losing streak Tuesday by giving the then-1-26 Towson University Tigers a Valentine’s Day they are sure to remember with a 70-51 blowout in Boston.
The Huskies returned to St. Botolph Street after dropping three road games and the one previous at home. Tuesday’s win brought them to .500 in Colonial Athletic Association (8-8, 12-14 overall) with only two conference games remaining on the schedule.
“Our team has great respect for their program although they haven’t won many games,” head coach Bill Coen said before the game. “Towson played a great game against us when we were down there last month and they really do have a positive group of talented players.”
The first few minutes of play were evenly matched. Both teams played aggressive ball, rebounding (Towson led 6-4) and stealing effectively (Northeastern led 4-3). With 11:42 to play in the half, the Huskies only held a small lead of four, 16-12.
It wasn’t until the end of the first period that the Huskies gained momentum and bring up the point margin. A quick eight-point surge from junior guard Joel Smith and eight fast-break points, NU started to find a groove to play with as the game progressed. At the halftime buzzer, the Huskies lead the Tigers 37-27.
The second half was all Northeastern. The Huskies scored 15 points off Tiger turnovers. The precise play from Coen’s team allowed them to run the score up to a game high of 25 points, with 6:28 left in regulation.
On the opposing bench, there was a standout performance from Towson’s senior forward Robert Nwankwo whose 19 point, 13 rebound game was overshadowed by his team’s lackluster play. The Tigers commited 19 turnovers and only shot 38 percent from the field (19-50) and 23.1 percent (3-13) from three-point distance.
The main difference for the Huskies in this game, in comparison to their past four losses, was their ability to execute fundamentals.
“We all started to play the ball well. We found openings and made big plays,” Smith said after the game. ”Getting the ball to Reggie and other big guys helped us. We have great team chemistry and we made the right plays tonight.”
Smith had 15 points (5-for-8) from above the arc and 20 on the night. Junior guard Jonathan Lee and freshman forward/guard Quincy Ford both went 2-for-4 from beyond the arc, scoring 10 and 12 points respectively. Freshman forward Reggie Spencer was the second leading scorer for the Huskies with 17 points, a career high.
From the foul line, NU shot 100 percent (8-8) in the first half and was 21-for-24 (87.5 percent) by the final buzzer. The Huskies put up 44 field goals, landing 20, for 45.5 percent.
Ford stood out defensively making five steals, which lead to some of Northeastern’s 10 fast break points.
“Towson is a great rebounding team and we needed to counteract that. We stepped out onto the court with a lot of energy and kept that play throughput the game,” Coen said. “We used our legs and extended our quickness to open the court up to generate some offense and play strong defense.”
The Huskies will host top-seeded America East, Stony Brook at 1 p.m. Saturday in the 10th annual Sears Bracket Busters at Matthews Arena. The tournament selects 142 NCAA Championship hopeful teams across 16 conferences to play against each other prior to March Madness, but will not effect CAA standings. Northeastern will return to CAA play Feb. 22 when they hosting No 2. George Mason (14-2, 22-6 overall).
