By Max Nagel, News Correspondent
Junior guard Joel Smith sunk six of 10 attempted three-pointers Saturday, but it wasn’t enough for the men’s basketball team to secure a win against Stony Brook University, losing 76-69 at home.
Smith’s six ‘threes’ placed him seventh all-time on Northeastern’s leading three-point scorers list, with 149 successful shots from beyond the arc.
The meeting between American East’s top-seed Stony Brook and the Huskies was part of The Sears Bracket Buster NCAA tournament and resparked what was once a division rivalry when Northeastern played in the America East conference through the 2005-06. This all day event selects 142 potential NCAA tournament teams to participate in cross-conference play to see how various teams stack up against each other.
It seemed like the rivalry had never died, as both teams attempted to match point-for-point, but it was a 17-5 Stony Brook run in the last four minutes of the game that secured the win.
“We shot and played the ball pretty well, but it was Stony Brook’s ability to rebound that won them them game.” head coach Bill Coen said. “They outplayed us in every way when it came to the backboards and that allowed them to make a run at the end of the half and the game.”
Stony Brook out-rebounded the Huskies 38-26 during the game, allowing them to score 26 second chance points to Northeastern’s eight.
The Huskies lead by seven with 32 seconds remaining in the first half, but Stony Brook players, sophomore guard Dave Coley and junior guard Leonard Hayes, negated the Huskies’ momentum by scoring a quick seven points to tie the game at the buzzer, 35-35.
After a slow beginning to the second half – both sides combined for only nine points in the first five minutes – the Huskies worked to gain a steady lead over their opponent.
Hot shooting from Northeastern’s leading scorers – Smith (20 points) and Jonathan Lee (15) alongside freshman forward/guard Quincy Ford (14) – allowed NU to get a nine point lead with only 5:53 left to play.
But just like the first half, Stony Brook reacted when were trailing and scored some clutch points following a foul call on Northeastern’s Lee. A team-wide effort allowed Stony Brook to quickly take lead and keep running up the score.
Stony Brook’s Coley lead the attack with a late three-pointer that helped push his team past Northeastern. Coley had a game high 21 points on the afternoon.
“Normally, we don’t make mental mistakes when we have a the game in hand, but obviously today, that wasn’t the case,” Coen said. “I thought we had the game, but there were a few plays where we didn’t go after the ball and they got some fast break or second chance points as a result.”
The Huskies lost five out of their last six games and have fallen to 12-15 overall, but remain seventh in the \ Colonial Athletic Conference (CAA) at 8-8.
The men’s basketball team will return to CAA play Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in Matthews Arena, where players will honor the lone senior, forward Kashief Edwards on Senior Night against George Mason University.
