By Andrew Parente, News Staff

‘ After a tough loss at William & Mary Wednesday night, the men’s basketball team was able to get back on track at home as they defeated UNC Wilmington, 77-65, Saturday afternoon.
‘ Northeastern remains on top of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) at 11-2, 16-7 overall. The Seahawks fall to 3-10 in the CAA and 6-19 overall.
The Huskies were backed by career-high scoring games from junior guard Baptiste Bataille and sophomore Chaisson Allen. Bataille recorded 14 points off the bench while Allen contributed 21 from his point guard spot.
‘ The 77 points were’ a team-high for the Huskies on the season and the 56.3 shooting percentage was also a season-high.
‘ ‘I think what you saw today was just a contrast in style,’ said head coach Bill Coen. ‘We needed big games out of’ [Allen and Bataille]. Both of them stepped up and played very well for us both on the offensive end and defensive end.’
In the first half, both teams remained close as they were tied at seven different times in the frame.
The teams were knotted up at 25 at the 4:22 mark before the Huskies were able to go on an 11-4 run to take a 36-29 lead at the half.
‘ Bataille knocked down a three, off a pass from junior guard and captain Matt Janning, and Allen buried his third trey of the half. Bataille’ once again took a Janning pass and sank it from beyond the arc.
Allen closed out the half with a lay-up as 15 of his 21 points came in the first.
Coen said he was pleased with the effort of Allen and credits his success to his hard work in the offseason.
‘ ‘It’s really an attribute to his work ethic,’ Coen said. ‘He spent the whole summer up here in the gym shooting 700 shots a day. He really worked on his shot and that hard work is really paying off for him.” ‘
Allen too, was happy with his career-high performance.
‘It feels pretty good,’ he said. ‘All the hard work is paying off.’
Although the Huskies never trailed in the second half, the Seahawks did not quit and NU was unable to pull away until later in the game.
The lead was cut down to three, 37-34, in the early stages of the second, but the Huskies went on a 12-5 run from that point to take their first double-digit lead of the game at the 14:34 mark.
However, after back-to-back threes from UNCW guard Dominque Lacy, who had 18 points on the day, the lead was just six with four minutes to go.
‘ But Bataille was able to come up with a three off a feed from senior forward Eugene Spates to push the lead back to nine, and then finished off another three to put NU up’ by 12.
From that point, the Huskies got it done with free throws as they made all 10 shots’ from the line during the last two minutes to put the game away.
All of Bataille’s shots from the floor came from behind the arc and although he said he felt confident shooting the ball, he was quick to credit his teammates.
‘ ‘ ‘Guys were getting me open,’ he said. ‘I’ve been getting shots up after practice and today it was me knocking them down. Everybody’s been making the extra pass and getting me those wide-open shots.’
Along with Bataille and Allen, Spates and Janning were also in double figures with 11 and 13 points, respectively.
The Huskies dominated on the glass, out-rebounding the Seahawks by a 34-22 margin.
Northeastern will look to keep the momentum going at home when it welcomes Drexel (12-10, 8-5 CAA) to Matthews Arena Wednesday night at 7 p.m.