By Matthew MacCormack, news staff
After playing 12 of its first 16 contests on the road, the Northeastern men’s basketball team settled down this week for the first three games of a four-game homestand. The Huskies (13-6) played well at Matthews Arena, defeating Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) rivals Hofstra University and the College of Charleston before falling to non-conference foe University of Detroit Mercy. Junior guard David Walker led the Huskies in scoring during the stretch, averaging 19 points per contest over the triplet of games.
The action tipped off on Wednesday night, as the Huskies captured a thrilling 91-83 victory over Hofstra to claim first place in the CAA standings. The Pride was led by the potent backcourt duo of juniors Juan’ya Green and Ameen Tanksley, who had helped Hofstra to a 13-4 record prior to tip-off. Despite the talent present on the Hofstra roster, the Huskies, aided by a swath of hollering fans in the N Zone, were able to pull through.
“I thought it was just a terrific CAA basketball game,” NU Head Coach Bill Coen said. “Both teams played at a really high level with a lot of energy.”
It certainly proved to be a riveting contest, as the high-flying, up-tempo Hofstra attack collided with Northeastern’s methodical, half-court preferences. With 13 ties and 15 lead changes in forty minutes of basketball, fans got everything they could hope for.
The teams battled to a 43-43 scoreline in the first half, and things only got more exciting from there. With less than 10 minutes to go in regulation, the Pride took a 69-68 lead. The Huskies responded with an 11-0 run, which began with a 3-pointer from Walker, who dropped 17 of his game high 21 points in the second half. Hofstra cut the lead to 81-76 with three minutes to go, but the Huskies converted their free throws the rest of the way and came out on top. The 91 points represented a season high for NU, and its lights-out shooting yielded a season-high 64 percent field goal percentage.
Green (21 points, 11 assists) and Tanksley (15 points, 11 rebounds) played phenomenally for the Pride, but their respective double-doubles just weren’t enough. Their efforts were eclipsed by those of NU sophomore point guard T.J. Williams, who racked up 16 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists, registering his first collegiate double-double.
“Our fans really made a difference,” Williams said, “Their enthusiasm got us going.”
The Huskies carried the momentum over to Saturday evening, when the Cougars of Charleston rolled into Beantown. Every member of NU’s starting five registered double figure scoring outputs, and junior guard Zach Stahl’s 11 points and 10 rebounds were good enough for his fourth career 10-10 game.
Despite holding a sizeable 57-45 advantage with seven and a half remaining in regulation, the Huskies succumbed to a 14-2 Charleston run. With the game knotted at 59 with two minutes to go, the Huskies rattled off five unanswered points. Nonetheless, Charleston (who is currently last in the conference standings) fought back, and a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Joe Chealey (23 points) made it a two-point game with three seconds to go. The Huskies were able to hold on for the 69-67 lead, surviving some poor free throw shooting at game’s end.
Their third game in five days pitted the Huskies against the Detroit Mercy, a member of the Horizon League. The long, athletic Titan lineup was led by junior forward Juwan Howard Jr. (the son of former NBA player Juwan Howard), who came in averaging nearly 19 points per game.
It was a close game all the way, but Northeastern looked like it had things clinched when a dunk from senior forward Scott Eatherton (14 points) pushed the Husky lead to six with less than three minutes to go.
From there, fatigue caught up to the tired Huskies, as Detroit scored eight of the game’s final ten points. The run culminated with a game-tying dunk from freshman forward Paris Bass (19 points, 7 rebounds) with 30 seconds to play. Bass skied up for a beastly one-handed jam, posterizing Eatherton and knotting the score at 60 in the process. The dunk by the freshman was so ferocious that it ended up on Sportscenter’s Top Ten plays the very next day. The Huskies had a chance to win the game on the next possession, but Stahl (7 points, 9 rebounds) couldn’t convert on a floater.
Momentum remained with Detroit in overtime, as Bass’ nine points matched the entire Husky team’s output in the extra frame. In five minutes of overtime, the Huskies were outscored 21-9, and ended the game with an 81-69 defeat. Walker (22 points, 8 assists) and Williams (12 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists) played well in the loss.
“I think it just came down to a battle of wills, and they just out-toughed us the last few minutes of regulation and in overtime,” Coen said. “Playing multiple games in the week got us fatigued, and that shows up in mental mistakes, ball handling mistakes and missed free throws.”
Nonetheless, the Huskies are in good shape, on top of the CAA standings with a dozen conference games left on the schedule. NU will finish out the homestand with a Thursday matchup against James Madison University, and will travel to the College of William & Mary on Saturday night.
Despite the fact that the Huskies let the Detroit game slip away, Coen believes his team is prepared to face the meat of the conference schedule.
“This team is tough-minded,” Coen said. “We know we have to look ahead to conference play.”
Photo by Brian Bae
