By Andrew Parente, News Staff

RICHMOND, VA ‘- The men’s basketball team’s run at a Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) title came to a screeching halt Saturday night at the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Va.
The No. 3 seeded Huskies were upset by No. 11 Towson, 58-54, in the quarterfinals of the CAA tournament.
Junior forward Manny Adako was strong for the Huskies, scoring a game-high 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting. However, NU was plagued at the free throw line throughout the contest and went just 12-of-24 for the game.
‘We left a ton of points on the free throw line,’ said head coach Bill Coen. ‘I thought we had an opportunity to get some critical stops under two minutes but we just couldn’t secure the rebounds.’
The Huskies trailed by three with five seconds left in the game when junior forward Baptiste Bataille was fouled while shooting a three and went to the line.
He missed on the first attempt, made the second and missed the third intentionally in hopes of an offensive rebound. However, the ball fell into the hands of Tiger forward Robert Nwankwo who was fouled and made both of his free throws to seal the win.
‘It’s disappointing anytime you lose, especially this time of year,’ Coen said. ‘Everybody’s got hopes and aspirations when they come down to Richmond and we had 40 minutes to advance our dream but we just didn’t get the job done.’
Northeastern, who trailed at the half, was able to erase a seven-point deficit and led by five, 41-36, with 10:47 to play.
After the teams went back-and-forth during the next five minutes, junior center Nkem Ojougboh came up with a layup to tie the game at 50 with 4:45 to play.
But the Tigers immediately went on a 6-0 run to take the lead for good.
In the first half, the Huskies held a 6-2 lead out of the gate but were unable to get into an offensive rhythm for most of the half.
Meanwhile, the Northeastern defense also struggled as it allowed Towson to shoot 52 percent from the floor, resulting in 32 first half points.
The Huskies will now wait to see if they are invited to any postseason tournaments. If not, Northeastern will finish the season with an 18-12 record.
Despite the loss, the Huskies came up with many accomplishments throughout the season, including two non-conference wins at Providence and Indiana. They had not defeated Providence since the 1926-27 season and had not defeated a Big Ten team since 1991.
Northeastern was also the first team in six years to win on the road at VCU and Old Dominion in the same season.
The Huskies also saw a four-win improvement overall from last year and their 12 CAA wins matched the team’s all-time high.
Five members of the team were’ also’ awarded with All-CAA honors this season at the annual postseason banquet held before the start of the tournament at the Richmond Mariott. ‘
Junior guard Matt Janning was named to the All-CAA first team, while Adako was named to the third team. Janning led the team in scoring, averaging 14.3 points a game. Adako averaged 10.9 points a game and shot 56 percent from the field.
‘ Janning was also named to the All-Academic second team while Ojougboh and Bataille were named to the first team. Northeastern was the only school that placed three players on the All-Academic team.
‘ Allen was named to the All-CAA defensive team, a year after being named to the All-Rookie team.
He led the Huskies this season in rebounds, steals and assists.
All five of those players are expected to return to the Huskies next year while the team graduates senior forwards Chris Alvarez, Eugene Spates and Matt Smith.