After a close loss at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (6-15, 1-7 CAA) Saturday, the Northeastern men’s basketball team bounced back and demolished Drexel University, 85-52. 

“We were all disappointed with the results last weekend, especially Saturday,” said senior guard Bolden Brace. “The biggest thing with us this year is proving what we can be and showing everyone else how good we can be. I think we can beat anyone on any given night and I think we can be a great team.”

Redshirt senior guard Jordan Roland had another strong night and led the game with 26 points while Brace stepped up and earned 17 points, making 7 out of the 8 shots he took. 

“For awhile now, people have been telling me to shoot more,” Brace said. “I try not to focus on shooting too much, I like to get everyone else involved. But once I get going it helps me get everyone else involved. I need to be better and it’s unacceptable for me to only take one shot.”

Although, the Dragons’ (12-9, 5-3 CAA) Sam Green was the first to put any points on the board, this would be the only agency they showed for the rest of the night.

The Huskies succeeded in their efforts to be a more united team and came back to Matthews with intense chemistry, eventually reaching a 34 point lead. 

The first half was full of great plays by NU. Within the same breath, Brace intercepted and assisted Roland with a three, before again stealing the ball and going for a dunk. Not long after, Roland was the only man able to put anything on the board for four minutes, and scored a mix of jumpers and threes to bring the Husky lead to 21-5.

A heated moment occurred on the court when the Dragon’s head coach Zach Spiker received a technical foul after he ran well over the sidelines onto the court aggressively screaming at his own players in response to his sophomore guard Matey Juric fouling redshirt junior guard Maxime Boursiquot and sending Roland to the free-throw line. 

The half ended with two made free throws from redshirt sophomore forward Greg Eboigboden, putting the Huskies up 49-17.

The Huskies early lead allowed for typical bench players to shine in the rest of the game, and gave the audience a preview of what the team will be like next season without the senior star players.

“I thought they were terrific,” NU head coach Bill Coen said. “It’s nice to have a performance like tonight where everybody’s involved and had a hand in the victory.”

The second half was less  exciting than the first, but junior guard Myles Franklin and redshirt sophomore forward Jason Strong were both able to score 6 total points and maintained the large lead.

The Huskies (11-9, 5-3 CAA) play the University of Delaware (14-7, 4-4) at Matthews Arena Saturday at 12 p.m. This game will be special as it’s #SuitsAndSneakers Week, which means the coaches and staff have been wearing their sneaks in support of Coaches vs. Cancer, a nationwide fundraising event to fight cancer.

“For every student that comes to the game on Saturday, I pledge a dollar to the American Cancer Society, and hopefully they come out and cost me $5,000,” Coen said. “It’s a great way to partner with our student body against this deadly enemy.”