By Zolan Kanno-Youngs, News Correspondent
Men’s basketball won one of its hardest non-conference game of the year against the Princeton University Tigers with their second straight last-second game winning play of the season, 67-66, on the road Tuesday night.
Freshman guard Zach Stahl drew Princeton defenders in a hard drive to the basket, freeing up a wide-open Reggie Spencer for the game-winning layup with 2.5 seconds left to play.
“Everybody who got in the game really contributed and we needed every effort from everybody because this is a tremendous program, they’re a tremendous team and it was a quality win this evening,” head coach Bill Coen said.
Down 56-38 with 13 minutes to go, the Huskies connected on eight of nine field goals and went 8-10 from the free throw line to erase the 18 point deficit and win the game.
Sophomore forward Quincy Ford lead the offense with a career-high 27 points and a game-leading eight rebounds. Sophomore center Reggie Spencer contributed with 16 points and five rebounds, while Stahl added eight points and two steals.
“The guys are learning quickly,” senior captain Joel Smith said. “There’s going to be adversity but the young guys really stepped up. Quincy [Ford] had a big game, Reggie had a big game, we had some freshman come in and give us big minutes and we’re lucky we came up with a big play in the end.”
The Huskies were down 12 points at halftime, however, the problem was not offense given the Huskies shot 57 percent in the first half.
The lead was mainly due to 21 first half points from All-Ivy First Team selection Ian Hummer. When the Huskies tried to focus their zone defense on Hummer, sophomore guard Clay Wilson made them pay from long range, going 4-7 from behind the arc.
“Clay [Wilson] made some bombs in the first half and we said [in the zone] we were going to give him some attention when he’s in each area,” Coen said. “[Hummer is] just a tremendous player, he slides in the middle of the zone and constantly makes plays and we were making sure if we can limit his touches, we’re probably going to be better off.”
Two early fouls against Spencer also hurt the team against the much bigger Princeton front line. The Huskies were out rebounded in the first half 13-8, four of those being offensive rebounds.
“When we got Reggie Spencer back on the court, I thought it settled us down and Quincy Ford had an outstanding game,” Coen said.
It was Spencer’s layup, after junior forward Chris Avenant nailed one from long range, which closed the 18 point lead for Princeton to 13.
Ford and Spencer then scored seven straight points after a Princeton bucket to bring the score to 58-50 with just over nine minutes left.
“I can’t say enough about Reggie and Quincy’s worth ethic,” Smith said. “They’re in the gym all the time and you can see the improvement from freshman year until now. They can both go off the dribble and take their man one-on-one and that really gives us a threat inside and out.”
From there, traded baskets and a series of free throws brought the score to 66-60 with three minutes left on the clock.
Ford grabbed a lucky bounce on a three-pointer from the top of the key, making it a one-point game.
Princeton had a chance to seal the game after collecting an offensive rebound off a missed three-pointer. The Huskies fouled, sending the Tiger’s senior forward Mack Darrow to the line. The last season’s 77 percent free-throw shooter missed the free throw giving the Huskies the last play of the game.
“That was an unbelievable basketball play and [Stahl] just has a very, very high basketball IQ and made an outstanding play to win the game,” Coen said. “We have great kids in this locker room. They’ve made a choice to play together, play hard and play smart and compete to the buzzer and these first two games have been tremendous for us.”
Northeastern will look to go 3-0 against the University of Vermont at Matthews Arena on Saturday at 7 p.m.
