By Emily McCarthy, News Staff
The Northeastern men’s basketball team earned a much-needed victory over the College of Charleston Saturday after falling Thursday to the University of North Carolina Wilmington— a team with just one conference victory under its belt. The Huskies currently hold a 6-7 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) record and a 9-18 overall record.
UNCW topped the Huskies 55-45 on Feb. 13 on the Seahawks’ home court. Although both teams struggled offensively, Northeastern redshirt-junior forward Scott Eatherton posted his 16th double-double of the season, recording 10 points and 16 rebounds.
Sophomore guard David Walker led the Huskies with a game-high 18 points. Junior forward Reggie Spencer chipped in 8 points and pulled down 9 rebounds in the losing effort.
Northeastern bounced back from the loss with a 60-44 road victory over Charleston Saturday. The Cougars’ meager 44 point total was the lowest allowed by Northeastern in over five years.
“I think it was big for our group, you know, we’ve been struggling a little bit,” Northeastern head coach Bill Coen said of Saturday’s win. “We haven’t played our best basketball, but I thought tonight we were inspired by our defense.”
Eatherton posted his NCAA-leading 17th double-double of the year in the Huskies’ win. He scored a game-high 22 points and collected 10 rebounds. Spencer added 15 points and grabbed 6 six rebounds and Walker added 10 points.
While Northeastern’s offense was impressive, it was the Huskies’ defensive efforts that propelled them to victory against the Cougars.
“Our defense really led to a productive offense,” Coen said. “That’s the way we have to play going down the stretch. We have to be super solid on the defensive end and get some run-outs, some easy baskets.”
Northeastern jumped out to a 13-2 lead early in the first half behind two three-pointers from Eatherton and one from Walker.
“I thought Scott Eatherton tonight really came up huge,” Coen said. “Every time the College of Charleston made a run at us, he answered with a big bucket.”
The Cougars battled back later in the first half and cut NU’s lead to four heading into halftime. The Huskies took a 22-18 lead into the locker room.
“I thought we missed a couple layups early in the first half when we had a comfortable lead and we allowed them to kind of climb back into the contest,” Coen said.
A 6-2 run to open the second half gave Northeastern a 28-20 lead. Although Northeastern continued to pressure Charleston’s offense, the Cougars refused to let Northeastern grab a sizable lead.
Up by just 5 points with 8:32 to play, Walker drained a three-pointer that sparked a scoring frenzy for the Huskies. An 8-0 run led by Walker and Spencer put Northeastern on top, 47-31. The deficit was too much for Charleston to make up.
The Huskies sealed the victory at the foul line as freshman guard T.J. Williams and junior guard Demetrius Pollard sank two free throws each. Redshirt-freshman forward Kwesi Abakah sank one foul shot to close out the game.
Northeastern currently holds the fifth spot in the CAA. But with three conference games remaining on the schedule, including one against fourth-place Drexel University, the Huskies still have a chance to move up in the standings before the CAA tournament.
“You just want to keep improving,” Coen said. “It was a big confidence-builder tonight. You know, it’s going to help our team going forward and know we can play at a high level. March is just around the corner and you want to be hitting stride by the time you get down to Baltimore.
“I think the tournament’s going to be terrific. I think people, if they come out to see it, they’re going to see some great basketball, some great programs going head-to-head with everything on the line. There’s nothing more exciting than that.”
The Huskies will be back in action Thursday night when they take on the Towson University Tigers at Matthews Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. Towson currently sits in second place in the CAA with a 9-3 conference record and an 18-9 record overall.
