By Zolan Kanno-Youngs, News Correspondent
Husky fans have seen some bizarre things this season, whether it was an improbable comeback or a buzzer beating three-pointer against a historic rival.
The semi-final round of the CAA tournament was no different.
With under a minute left and the game tied 67-67, the entire N Zone stood behind George Mason’s basket with all eyes fixed on Jon Lee, awaiting the next chapter of the Huskies historic run.
The senior co-captain pivoted at the top of the 3-point line and attacked junior Byron Allen with a right-handed drive, allowing him space to finish with a lefty lay-up and secure the Huskies the 69-67
win.
The basket not only meant that the Huskies had done the impossible by overcoming a 24-point first half deficit but also meant that Northeastern is just one game away from dancing in the NCAA tournament.
“All year long we’ve come back from double digit deficits before,” coach Bill Coen said. “They just believe in themselves, they trust themselves and they trust each other. As long as there’s time on the clock we’re going to compete and battle.”
The Huskies needed every single second of the clock after the first 16 minutes of this one. GMU came right out of the gate aggressive with a 13-0 run through the first eight minutes of the game. Jon Lee (ironically) then gave the Huskies their first basket on a lay-up with 10 minutes into the half.
After a Mason free throw, junior center Dinko Marshavelski then quickly followed that up with a right-handed hook off the glass.
Coach Paul Hewitt’s team then went on a 14-0 run, making many believe that the game was over.
Besides the senior co-captains, of course.
“It really fueled us to come back with some fire and we put together a good last minute stretch to go to halftime,” senior co-captain Joel Smith said, who was held scoreless in the first half.
Without that last minute run, it’s hard to say the Huskies would have any chance in the game. With George Mason leading 28-4 with 4:41 left in the first, sophomore Demetrius Pollard connected on a 3-pointer, sparking a 15-3 Northeastern run to close the half.
“Demetrius is a very, very confident young man and he knows that we rely on him to eventually give us a spark,” Coen said.
The run must have given the Huskies the momentum they needed, because the first few minutes of the second half were a Northeastern 3-point shooting barrage.
The first four Northeastern baskets were all from beyond the arc, sophomore Quincy Ford and freshman David Walker each with one and Smith with two.
“First half, shots weren’t falling but my teammates were positive with me and kept giving me confidence to shoot the ball and we came out second half, got a good warm up in and just kept shooting,” Smith, who alongside Lee led the team with 14-points said.
With 16:56 left in the second, Smith then tied the game on a lay-up after a steal by Lee, completing a 26-2 run that spanned from the end of the first to the second half.
“You got Joel Smith who can hit two back-to-back three’s, you’ve got Demetrius Pollard who can come in and hit two back-to-back three’s,” Lee said. “That gives you fire.”
With the help of sophomore center Reggie Spencer playing at the top of Northeastern’s press, the Huskies were able to hold Mason to a single-digit lead throughout the rest of the second half.
However, when junior Jonathan Alredge pushed Mason’s lead to 67-61 on a lay-up with 2:54 left in the game, it looked, once again, like the Huskies’ season was over.
In the next 40 seconds, both Quincy Ford and Jon Lee were able to get to the line and connected on all free throws, cutting the Mason lead to two.
With 57 seconds on the clock, Smith, yet again made a huge play, hitting a rolling Quincy Ford with a beautiful pass to tie the game up 67 all.
Ford then secured Northeastern the last possession by stealing a lob pass at half court, setting up Lee to be the semi final hero.
“I don’t think I exhaled until Jon made that game-winning layup,” Smith said. “Until the buzzer ends, like I said, it’s not over.”
The Huskies will take on James Madison University for the CAA tournament title tonight at 7 p.m.
