By Zolan Kanno-Youngs, News Correspondent
After an opening 61-52 win against University of California-Riverside and another comeback win against Belmont University, the Huskies nearly had another late rally against University of North Carolina-Charlotte in the Great Alaskan Shootout Championship. They came up just short and finished in second place after losing to the Charlotte 49ers on Saturday, 67-59.
“It’s great practice for the CAA tournament in Richmond,” head coach Bill Coen said. “We’re going to be faced with the same type of circumstances down there and it’s a great experience for our team to get that multiple preparation in a short period of time.”
Senior captain Joel Smith led the way in the title game for the Huskies with 19 points on shooting only 7-21. With all of his field goals coming from behind the arc, freshman guard David Walker had a career high 13 points, and sophomore forward Quincy Ford pitched in 9 points and 4 rebounds.
Senior forward Chris Braswell gave the 49ers the spark they needed off the bench with 14 points and 4 rebounds, sophomore guard Terrence Williams added 13 points off 9-9 shooting from the line and Darion Clark had 10 points and 8 rebounds.
Northeastern had a tough task going up against a Charlotte defense that came into the game forcing their opponents to shoot just 32 percent from the field and 24 percent from behind the arc. Northeastern didn’t do much better as they were held to 34 percent from the field and 10-28 from behind the arc, that sent the Huskies into halftime with an 11-point deficit, 30-19.
Nineteen points is the lowest the Huskies have scored in any half all season.
As the second half got under way, Northeastern looked like they had another late run in them after sophomore guard Demetrius Pollard hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to seven, 60-53. After sophomore guard Pierra Henry hit one of two free throws, Walker added to the run by hitting a three of his own off a Pollard assist.
However, Braswell then went 2-2 from the line and didn’t miss at all from the stripe in the last minute of play for a team that makes 59 percent of their free throws.
Another Joel Smith three cut Charlotte’s lead to a four-point game, but the shot was followed by a turn over from the co-captain with just 20 seconds to play.
The loss came after what was arguably the Huskies’ most impressive win of the season thus far against the Belmont Tigers, who made it to the NCAA tournament last season.
Smith and senior guard Ian Clark led the team in shooting, with 26 and 29 points respectively.
“When you see the way Joel [Smith] and Ian Clark shot the ball, it was just an amazing, amazing performance by these two young men,” Coen said.
Three other Huskies scored in double digits: Sophomore forward Zach Stahl with a career-high 13 points, Ford with 11 points (four assists, five rebounds) and sophomore center Reggie Spencer with 10 points. The game also featured a huge go-ahead three-pointer by David Walker.
With 13 minutes to play in the second half, Belmont looked like it would be the team moving on to the championship after scoring 16 straight points – 14 by Ian Clark – with a 55-39 lead. However, a defensive line-up of Smith, Ford and three freshman, Walker, Stahl and forward Derrico Peck, was just what Coen said he needed.
“It allowed us to cover their shooters a little bit better with a switching scheme and we played our small ball line-up and we had a good rhythm going. The guys seemed fresh and we were still executing on the offensive end,” Coen said.
After a Stahl jumper and a steal by Peck that led to a transition lay-up, Joel Smith knocked down a three to make it a 55-46 Belmont lead. After traded baskets, Ford fed Peck a beautiful pass along the baseline leading to a momentum-shifting dunk.
The Huskies kept the run going after converted Belmont free throws with Smith and Walker nailing back-to-back threes to make it a 3-point game with eight minutes to play.
From there, Belmont continued to make it to the line and Ford began scoring (9 of his 11 points came in the final seven minutes to the point where it was tied 65-65 with just over three minutes to go.
It was at this point where Clark hit his most spectacular shot of the game: a spot up jumper nearly 4 feet beyond the 3-point line. Ford would quickly answer by getting to the line and converting on both free throws.
A minute later, the freshman guard would step up as the hero of the game. The Huskies executed the half-court play to perfection; Walker came off a screen to catch a perfect pass from Smith at the left side of the 3-point line and took the shot without hesitation.
“Our young guys really made big plays today, really impressive. [David Walker] with the rhythm shot, [it] was a veteran shot, in the spotlight, knock it down,” Smith said. “When you have that in those young guys, it just shows how they can be in the future. We are very fortunate to have those guys.”
From there, the Huskies never looked back and Smith hit four straight free throws.
“Quite simply, we just came out here to get better,”` Coen said. “This is a tremendous opportunity to play multiple games in a couple of days at a very exciting venue in a very historic tournament.”
Huskies Joel Smith and Quincy Ford were named to the all-tournament team and Northeastern is now 4-2 all time in the Great Alaskan Shootout.
