By Emily McCarthy, News Staff
The Northeastern men’s basketball team’s conference struggles continued Saturday night against the College of William & Mary. After an abysmal first half, Northeastern fell to the Tribe, 82-70, at Matthews Arena. The Huskies are now 5-6 in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play and 8-17 overall.
The Huskies’ starters mustered a meager 18 points in the first half as William & Mary cruised to an impressive 45-point total.
“To say we came out flat, I think, is an understatement,” Huskies head coach Bill Coen said. “We really did not come out with much energy at all. Sometimes that happens when you’re too excited to play, when you’re ready to play.
“But I thought William & Mary came out of the box, really executed. They’re a great execution team but we kinda fueled the fire with 10 first-half turnovers.”
The Tribe kicked off the second half with a three-pointer from junior guard Marcus Thornton, who finished with a game-high 25 points. But the Huskies’ bench players refused to give up and brought Northeastern back into the game.
“I thought we regrouped at halftime and had to make it a little bit of a scramble game and push the tempo,” Coen said. “I was proud of the guys that went in and finished the game because I thought they played about as hard as they possibly could and made an imprint on the game.”
The unconventional combination of redshirt-freshman forward Kwesi Abakah, redshirt-senior guard/forward Chris Avenant, freshman guard/forward Jimmy Marshall and sophomore guard Derrico Peck teamed up to close in on William & Mary’s lead.
“I thought Chris Avenant did a great job and really energized us,” Coen said. “Derrico Peck on the top of the press, Kwesi Abakah, they all did a nice job.”
With 4:05 remaining in the game, junior guard Demetrius Pollard made a layup and Avenant followed with a three to cut the Tribe’s lead to just 12, firing up the home crowd.
“Once we started to pick up our energy, I think you could see our body language and their body language and then you say ‘hey, this is going to get interesting,’” Coen said. “You almost have to play perfectly from that point on, but it was a major-league effort just to get back into the conversation.”
The Huskies trailed by just 10 points with 1:49 left on the clock, but William & Mary kept the pressure on and closed out the victory in the closing seconds.
Pollard led the Huskies with 13 points, freshman guard T.J. Williams finished with 12, and Avenant chipped in 10.
“I think the lesson is no matter who’s on the floor or what the rotation, that’s how we have to play,” Coen said. “And that’s no earth-shattering revelation. People know that. But it was just such a contrast between the two halves.”
The Huskies were scheduled to play the University of North Carolina at Wilmington Wednesday night, but due to a major snow storm, the game was postponed until Thursday night. Tipoff against the Seahawks will be at 7 p.m.
