By Emily McCarthy, News Staff
After falling to Drexel University, 93-88, in a double-overtime thriller Saturday and losing to Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) newcomer College of Charleston Monday at Matthews Arena, the Northeastern men’s basketball team bounced back with a win over reigning CAA champion James Madison University Wednesday night.
Junior guard Demetrius Pollard sank a three-pointer as time ran out to send Saturday’s matchup against the Drexel Dragons to overtime. With the game tied at 67, the teams battled through one overtime period only to find themselves tied again.
Heading into the second overtime period, the teams were knotted at 76 apiece. The Dragons went on a 6-0 run to open double-OT and the Huskies were unable to regain the lead. Drexel closed out the win to hand Northeastern its first conference loss.
The Huskies were hoping for a different result against Charleston as they held a slim lead over the Cougars at halftime Monday. NU failed to close out the victory, as the Cougars pulled away in the second half and went on to win, 58-49.
The bright spot in the loss to Charleston was the dominant play of redshirt-junior forward Scott Eatherton, who recorded his 13th double-double of the season. With 11 points and 11 rebounds in the first half, Monday night marked the first time Eatherton had a double-double before halftime.
“I thought we kind of squandered an outstanding effort by Scottie this evening,” Northeastern head coach Bill Coen said after Monday’s game. “I thought the first half was about as well as we’ve played all year defensively. We really did some nice things. We executed our game plan, we played with energy, kind of understood their personnel, we really did a nice job. Unfortunately, I thought really the difference in the game was the first four minutes of the second half.”
The Huskies were up 21-19 after the first 20 minutes, thanks to Eatherton’s double-double and solid all-around defensive play. The Cougars opened the second half with a 5-0 run that the Huskies were unable to recover from.
Northeastern battled to tie the game at 25 apiece and again at 35 apiece, but never led during the final 20 minutes. A 10-0 run by the Cougars in the middle of the second half sealed the victory for Charleston.
“I think you got to give Charleston a little credit,” Coen said. “They came out and played really well the first half, I thought. But that’s what good defense does. This team is a very, very good defensive team. I think in the last five of their last six games they’ve held their opponent to under 40 percent [shooting]. They do a good job defensively.”
Eatherton finished Monday’s game with 19 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks. Sophomore guard David Walker added 10 points and pulled down seven rebounds and sophomore guard Zach Stahl chipped in seven points in the losing effort.
“I think Eatherton — God his numbers are incredible,” Charleston head coach Doug Wojcik said. “What did he have tonight? 19 and 16, that’s pretty impressive.”
Coen recognized that he needed a more complete effort. In the process, the Huskies will grow to find their true identity down Quincy Ford and last year’s standout senior co-captains Jonathan Lee and Joe Smith.
“I think we’re still searching to find ourselves,” Coen said. “I’m looking for things to build on and to me I’m building on the first great half of defensive basketball that we played against a really good offensive team. We’ve got to extend that to 40 minutes and so on.”
Following the back-to-back losses to Drexel and Charleston, the Huskies traveled to Harrisonburg, Va. in search of a conference win against James Madison University.
Northeastern ended its two-game skid with a 56-52 victory over the Dukes. Eatherton achieved his 14th double-double of the season, finishing with 14 points and 11 rebounds. He currently stands alone as the NCAA leader in double-doubles this season.
“He’s just been outstanding for us all year and tonight was no different,” Coen said, lauding Eatherton’s efforts after Wednesday’s win.
Eatherton said he does not really think about his individual accomplishments this season, but instead focuses on helping the team however he can.
“I know my job is rebounding,” he said.
Coen commended the Huskies for playing well against last year’s CAA champions on their home court.
“It was a very exciting atmosphere in the gym today,” Coen said. “JMU had a boisterous group of fans that they brought up in the championships last year.”
“The team played great,” Eatherton said. “We didn’t know the crowd would be like that. It was pretty hostile down there.”
Walker and Pollard finished with 12 points each and junior forward Reggie Spencer added six points and collected eight rebounds.
“Both Davey and Demetrius made big shots down the stretch,” Coen said.
With the win, Northeastern improves to 2-2 in CAA play and 5-13 overall.
The Huskies play again on Saturday when they take on the University of Delaware Blue Hens at 12 p.m. at Matthews Arena. Delaware holds a perfect 3-0 record in CAA play and an 11-7 overall record thanks to their dynamic scoring backcourt of senior guard Devon Saddler, junior guard Jarvis Threatt and senior transfer Davon Usher.
The game will present a height advanage for the Huskies, as Delaware graduated two-time CAA defensive Player of the Year, Jamelle Hagins last spring.
Saturday’s matchup will conclude an action-packed week for Northeastern that included four games in just seven days.
“It’s typical CAA play,” Coen said Wednesday, referencing the week’s packed schedule. “I was especially proud of our kids [tonight] to be able to bounce back mentally and physically.”
