By Matthew MacCormack, news staff
Last week was a roller-coaster ride for the Northeastern men’s basketball team. After a commanding 82-59 thumping of James Madison University (JMU) at Matthews Arena on Thursday, the Huskies (14-7) suffered a road loss to the College of William & Mary on Saturday, falling 78-62.
The week began as NU bested the Dukes of JMU. Northeastern never trailed in the game, and stretched its lead to as high as 28 points halfway through the second quarter.
“We came out and played a really good brand of team basketball on both ends of the floor,” Head Coach Bill Coen said. “[It was] probably our best overall effort so far this season.”
Senior forward Reggie Spencer, who had missed the past three games with a lower body injury, returned to chip in a season-high 13 points on 5-6 shooting in just 16 minutes of action. Spencer led a second unit that racked up 28 bench points, the Huskies’ highest total of the season.
To Spencer, missing the previous triplet of games didn’t discourage him. Instead, it motivated him.
“After the injury, I learned that you never know when [your career] is gonna end,” the senior said. “I just wanna have fun and take advantage every time I’m on the court.”
The Huskies had no problem taking advantage of the Dukes. Within the first 10 minutes of the game, seven Husky players had already scored. After back-to-back 3-pointers from sophomore point guard T.J. Williams (17 points, four rebounds), the Huskies held a 35-14 lead with seven minutes to play in the first.
JMU fought back, cutting the lead to 40-26 after junior guard Ron Curry, who ended with a game-high 21 points, began to heat up from behind the paint. Nonetheless, the game did not get closer. The Huskies scored a season-high 49 points in the first half en route to a 19-point halftime advantage.
NU would cruise the rest of the way, as all 11 players on the roster were able to appear in the game. Junior guard David Walker tallied 15 points and senior forward Scott Eatherton put up an all-around effort with six points, seven rebounds and seven assists. In the end, the Huskies pulled through with an 82-59 win.
Saturday, however, the Huskies weren’t so lucky. NU made the trek down to Williamsburg, Va. for a face-off with the William & Mary Tribe (12-7). The Huskies got off to a relatively slow start, but were able to keep within striking distance for most of the game. With five minutes to play, NU found itself down 63-60, before the Tribe rattled off a 15-2 run to close the game and seal the victory, 78-62.
“I thought we got off to a slow start and never really caught a rhythm,” Coen said.
William & Mary seemed to click from the opening whistle, as the Tribe took a 38-27 lead into the locker room at halftime.
NU rallied, cutting the deficit to 47-45 with 13 minutes to play. In the next five minutes, the Tribe would extend the lead to 61-52, before Husky redshirt junior forward Quincy Ford (17 points, seven rebounds) scored seven straight points in a little more than a minute of gameplay to cut the lead to 63-60. From there, though, the commanding run by the Tribe proved to be too much to handle.
In the loss, the Huskies shot a paltry 39.3 percent from the field and turned the ball over 14 times. Even more damaging was the lack of precision from beyond the arc. Northeastern is usually sharp from far out, with a 37 percent 3-point percentage on the season. Against the Tribe, however, the Huskies yielded only a 10 percent clip from long distance.
“We went 2-20 from three,” Coen said. “You’re not gonna win many games shooting that percentage.”
The loss put Northeastern in a de-facto three-way tie atop the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) standings. The Huskies, who have mustered a 6-2 conference record, share the top spot with William & Mary and the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
NU will look to get back on track this week, as another pair of CAA contests waits on the horizon. The Huskies will battle Drexel University in Philadelphia on Wednesday night, before returning home to face Elon University at Matthews on Saturday. So far this season, the Huskies are 6-0 after losses. A quick rebound could be in store.
Although bouncing back is imperative, the Huskies should have their eyes fixed on the final 10 games on the schedule, as they hope to lock up a No. 1 seed for the CAA tournament in the first week of March. According to Coen, the team has what it takes.
“When you have guys in the locker room that care, that play hard and play for each other, you have a chance to be special,” he said. “This group has that chance.”
Photo by Brian Bae
