With the help of two huge Bobby Kelly free throws, the Northeastern men’s basketball team held on for an 86-83 win over host James Madison Saturday in Harrisonburg, Va.
The win marks the Huskies’ first Colonial Athletic Association victory and gives them an overall record of 5-1.
“We’re not surprised,” Kelly said. “We all knew we were capable of getting off to this kind of start.”
JMU junior Ray Barbosa scored eight of his 17 points with under two minutes remaining in the contest, including a clutch three-pointer to bring the Dukes within one point with three seconds left. In order to stop the clock, JMU had to foul a Husky and just happened to send Kelly, Northeastern’s leading free-throw shooter (9-10), to the line. Despite fans running laps around the court, Kelly converted both shots and the Huskies held on for the win.
“The student section was going crazy,” Kelly said. “I knew I had to hit them so I just tried to stay relaxed and made them.”
Senior Jose Juan Barea once again led the way for NU, scoring 22 points to go with six assists, while turning the ball over only once. He had averaged 4.75 turnovers in the team’s last four contests.
Although Barea led the team in scoring, senior Janon Cole was instrumental for the Huskies as he stepped off the bench to score a career-high 17 points on 7-10 shooting, as well as a team-high eight boards and three assists.
Aaron Davis hit 2-6 three point attempts on the way to 14 points while forward Shawn James, playing just 23 minutes due to foul trouble, dropped 13 points, seven boards and two blocked shots.
The Huskies bounced back after shooting just 36.8 percent from the floor in the first half to outscore JMU 48-42 in the second frame.
Depth was a huge factor for Northeastern in this game, as they got huge contributions from their bench, and it wasn’t just offensive production. While they did outscore the Dukes 26-10 off the bench, the more intriguing stat is that Northeastern’s bench pulled down six offensive rebounds while JMU’s bench could muster just two off the offensive glass.
The Huskies’ bench also shot 62.5 percent from the floor, compared to the Dukes’ bench, which hit just 21 percent of their attempts.
With their first CAA game and win under their belt the Huskies now have an idea of what they will face in the coming months. Judging by the atmosphere at the JMU Convocation Center, the Huskies won’t have any easy games on the road this year.
“I think we already had good character, and these games will help build on that,” Kelly said. “At the end of the game we just man up and get it done.”
The Huskies enter tonight’s game against Towson (3-2, 1-0 CAA) with three days of rest.
The game marks the Huskies’ first ever CAA home game and first contest in Matthews Arena since Jan. 19, when they defeated Boston University 77-75.
“We’re kind of used to playing on the road right now,” Kelly said. “We’re pretty excited to play on the new floor and try to fill up Matthews.”
Tip-off is at 7:30 pm.
